New Beginnings: Back To Hogwarts
by Jade Wildcat
Summary: The golden trio is going back to Hogwarts to repeat their seventh year now that the war is over. Hermione is Head girl. Whos Head boy? and what will this year hold now that the greatest threats are gone? Better than it sounds and hopefully a bit original.
1. Back to Hogwarts

**AN: This is a harry potter fanfic, everything belongs to J.. Enjoy.**

Chapter 1: Back to Hogwarts

Hermione slipped easily through the barrier to platform 9 and ¾, pushing her trolley in front of her. She scanned the platform and quickly spotted a cluster of red hair. She let out the breath she hadn't even known she was holding and an unconscious smile stole across her lips. Smiling more broadly she made her way towards her adoptive family. She pushed through a crowd of people, muttering apologise and trying not to cringe. She hated crowds. Ever since the war she had been tense and jumpy. Constantly alert she watched everyone around her, searching for any sign of threat. Sometimes there was a treat, but that was very rare. There were deatheaters still loose, but they were on the run with the ministry hot on their tails.

Hermione smiled when she saw Harry already standing with the Weasley's, one arm around Ginny as he laughed at the twins. She hurried forward, eager to join them again. To her left came movement, she saw it just out of the corner of her eye. She spun, drawing her wand reflexively. When she halted its tip pointed at the chest of a handsome and familiar Slytherin. Blaise Zabini held up his hands, one perfect eyebrow arched as he eyed her wand.

"Granger" He looked down at her, face impassive.

"Zabini" She studied him and slowly lowered her wand. After all he posed no threat, yet.

"You're a bit jumpy, Granger" He observed, his cool voice pronounced the words flawlessly, yet the hint of an accent danced around their edges.

"War does that to people" Hermione answered dryly.

"Indeed" He murmured. his eyes skittered over her face and down, observing, calculating.

She shifted, uncomfortable under his gaze and she had to stomp on the erg to flatten her hair and straighten her clothes.

"Can I help you, Zabini? Or did you just come to stare?"

His eyes snapped back to her face, "I just thought I would come and congratulate you on getting head girl." His emerald eyes slipped down to her badge. "A perfect choice by Mac Gonagal, I think."

"Thank you" Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "But why so friendly? You may have fought for our side in the war, but excuse me if I think that's not enough to suddenly make us friends." She caught his eyes and held them. "After all I'm still a Gryffindor and a Mud-Blood."

If Blaise saw the challenge in her gaze he ignored it, instead he smiled slightly, making his angular features less haughty.

"Blood never meant anything to me, Granger, and after the war others will be starting to get the same idea. In the end we all bleed red." His silky voice sent shivers down her spine on his last words and his eyes darkened making her wonder what had just gone through his mind.

Then he blinked breaking the spell. "As for the part about you being a Gryffindor...." Blaise paused and then smirked in true Slytherin style. "....Well, I will get over it. After all we will be seeing a lot more of each other from now on"

He bowed to her mockingly and walked away, still smirking.

Hermione watched him disappear into the crowed with narrowed eyes. _"We will be seeing a lot more of each other from now on." _What on earth had he meant by that? She tried to analyse what he had said and drew a blank. It couldn't of been a threat could it? After all we will be on Hogwarts grounds, he wouldn't try anything. She frowned and decided to keep a close watch on the quiet Slytherin. But for now she had other things to concentrate on and right now that was her friends.

Hermione turned and realised that the Weasley family had moved closer, still looking casual but with wands drawn. She smiled, it was nice to know people had her back. Hermione pushed her trolley forward to finally join them.

"Hermione, dear." Mrs Weasley pulled her into a tight hug. "How are you? Oh, you're so thin. We were worried when we couldn't find you. I was about to send the boys to go look for you. I hope you didn't have any trouble getting here."

"Let her breath, Mum." Ron chuckled and hugged Hermione once his mother had let her go.

Hermione returned his hug and moved on to Harry and Ginny smiling back at Mrs Weasley and answering her last question. "No trouble at all Mrs Weasley. Kingsley just asked me to stop by before I came here. Sorry for being late."

"Oh that's fine dear. Kingsley is not someone you can ignore, is he."

"Indeed not." Hermione laughed.

She waved a greeting to Mr Weasley, Bill and Flur then turned to finally meat the eyes of the last three Weasley brothers. Charlie stood with Fred and George on either side. The war had changed everyone but the changes seemed most prominent in these three. The death of Percy had been a herd blow to the happy-go-lucky twins, especially Fred. Fred blamed himself for his death, Percy had, after all, died saving him. For a while the twins had been a morbid pear, then Charlie had pulled them out of their depression, with some help from Hermione. But even so all three brothers now had a more serious take on life.

Hermione smiled softly at the three. They all grinned back and jumped forward to envelope her in a hug. She giggled as she was squished between them.

"Is that Zabini guy gonna give you trouble?" Charlie growled softly in her ear.

"No, he's fine" Hermione assured them. "He was being nice."

Fred snorted, "Just means you gotta watch him."

"I'll be fine guys, don't worry"

She stepped out of the hug but stayed standing by them, leaning on Fred's shoulder.

"Well" Mrs Weasley surveyed the group. "I guess it's time for you all to get on the train. We wouldn't want you to be late."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances then moved forward to start loading their stuff. None of them really wanted to leave the group and they all dragged their feet.

A quick glance around showed Hermione similar scenes. Parents and children moved slower than usual. Hugs and kisses lasted longer. There were fewer smiles. More frowns. Many worried or cautious glances around the station. The war was over but it would be a long time before people would relax. Too many people were grieving, to many had suffered.

Hermione sighed and pulled herself out of her thoughts, turning to face the Weasley family again. Mrs Weasley was hugging Ron, talking a mile a minute with tears in her eyes. Harry seemed to be in a serious discussion with Mr Weasley and Bill and Flur were fussing over Ginny. So Hermione turned again to Charlie and the twins.

"Time to say good bye?" Charlie questioned softly.

"Of course. We can't stay here forever." Hermione smiled sadly. "And your dragons must miss you."

"Actually...." Charlie's eyes skittered away from hers. "They might have to pine for me a while longer."

Hermione glanced at the twins, but they looked just as confused as she felt. "You're not going back to Romania?"

"I will go back." He assured. "Just not for another year or two." His gaze slid to the ground.

"What are you going to do then?" Fred questioned. "Get a job around here?"

Yea I guess that would be the first step. I was going to..." He blushed a deep scarlet and cleared his throat. "I was actually thinking of writing a book or two."

A stunned silence met his words and he shifted from foot to foot.

"That's a brilliant idea!" exclaimed Hermione.

Charlie's head jerked up and his eyes jumped from Hermione's excited face to the twins identical grins.

"You think so?"

"Of course" Hermione cried. "You know so much about dragons. I'm assuming that's what you're going to write about?"

He nodded.

"Oh, it will be wonderful. I can't wait to read them. There must be so much I don't know. So much everyone doesn't know. When are you going to start? Did you have a plan or have you only just thought of it? I could help if you want, not that I know much about dragons but I know a lot about books."

At that all three Weasley men started laughing. Hermione closed her mouth and blushed.

"Sorry" she mumbled. "I just thought it was a good idea."

"Thanks Hermione" Charlie clapped her on the shoulder still chuckling. "I'd be very grateful for your help, I promise I'll owl you when things get started. But my first order of business will be getting a job."

"Why don't you come work for us" George offered.

"Good idea" Fred nodded. "We need another worker, we were just going to start advertising now that Hermione and Ginny are going back to school. They were handling most of the important side of things, like the dealings with the ministry."

"Are you sure?" Charlie questioned.

"Of course" George waved it off.

"It's much easier this way" Assured Fred.

"Keeps it in the family"

"Means you can start right away."

"Don't have to worry about accidently pranking you either."

"It'll be great" the twins decided in unison.

Hermione laughed. "Looks like your all sorted. Make sure you write to me, I want to know how things work out"

"Don't worry 'Mione." Fred pulled her into a tight. "We'll keep you in the loop."

"We'll still ask you for your opinion on our new ideas." added George, hugging her after Fred.

"And you can be sure we'll need your advice" finished Charlie with the last hug.

Hermione smiled up at them, "Bye guys. I'll miss you."

"How could you not?" all three laughed in unison.

Hermione laughed too, shaking her head at them. She left them and went to say goodbye to Bill and Flur. She moved on to a tearful goodbye to Mr and Mrs Weasley. Before finally boarding the train with Harry, Ron and Ginny. Hermione waved with the others until the train rounded the corner and she caught her last glimpse of her new family. She turned, took a deep breath and moved deeper into the train. A new year had begun. But what new adventures could possibly lie in wait?

_**AN: Ok so thats the first chapter of my new story. Dont worry things will pick up in the next one.**_

_**Over and out**_

_**Jade Wildcat.**_


	2. Train Rides and Triangles Part 1

_**AN: As usual everything belongs to U-Know-Who. Just the story line is mine. –Sigh- What a shame for me. Enjoy the next chapter people.**_

**Chapter 2: Train rides and Triangles. Part 1**

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny found an empty compartment near the back of the train and they started storing their stuff. The mood in the room was vastly different from how it used to be, they all seemed rather deflated. But, no sooner than they had sat down when the compartment door slid open to reveal none other than Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Grim faces broke into smiles as the four jumped up to great their friends and help them store their luggage. Happy chatter over ran the gloomy silence.

"How's your holiday been?"

"Is that a new hair style?"

"How's your Grandmother?"

"I've been ok"

"I love your necklace"

"Is that your new wand, give a look?"

"Cool shoes!!!"

Neville and Luna had barely found seats before the door opened again. This time Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Parviti Patil and Lavender Brown were pulled in. Ginny and Hermione jumped up to help Lavender to a seat and stored her crutches for her. (She was still recovering from her injuries.) Happy faces and laughter filled the compartment as Ginny settled onto Harry's lap and Luna perched herself on Dean's leg's. She leaned against his shoulder, oblivious to his slightly red face.

Hermione looked around and sighed when she realised she must leave the comfort of her friends. As Head Girl she had to organise the prefects meeting. She stood and received farewells and the promises from Ron, Ginny and Luna to see her soon. The Head Girl, she had been told, had to have a meeting with the Head Boy before speaking to the prefects. She closed the door to the compartment and came face to face with Colin Creevey.

"Colin!" She smiled at the younger boy. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks" Colin smiled back, much subdued since the war. "I was just coming to ask how you were."

"I'm good, thanks for asking."

"That's good. Um...." Colin twisted his badly scared hands together. "How's Mr Weasley?"

Hermione's smile softened. "Fred is good too." She replied. "He's getting much better and has fully recovered from his injuries. He also asked me to tell you to come pay him a visit next time you're in Diagon Ally.

Colin's face lit up in a smile that was rear for him now. "I'd like that." He murmured.

"That's good, he can't wait to talk to you." She smiled down at him. "Well, I better be off. But I'll catch up with you at the feast."

"Ok. See you then." He hesitated, and then gave her a quick hug before running off.

Hermione watched the boy's retreating form, noticing the scars on the back of his neck. She sighed and forced her mind back to the job at hand. She made her way to the prefect's compartment and slipped into the empty room. Sighing again, Hermione settled into the seat and glanced around, spotting the two books left on the seat across from her. Curious she looked at their titles and picked up the one labelled 'Head Girl' in gold leaf on the front.

'_I wonder when the Head Boy will show up' _she mused well flicking absentmindedly through the book.

The she paused suddenly realising she had absolutely no idea who the Head Boy even was. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind. She shook her head at her own stupidity and immediately set her mind onto the mystery.

'_It's not Harry, Ron or Neville. Though all three would have been good choices. Then again, Ron's not really made for Head Boy and Harry is quidditch captain. But Neville could have done it. Well if it's not them then I assume its Ernie. He's smart, reliable, never gets into trouble and his grades are good. Actually, only two males in our year have better grades than him....'_

Suddenly everything fell into place with a sickening thud.

"Oh no" Hermione whispered. "No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. That's so unfair."

Because now Blaise's words came back to her mind. '_After all, we will be seeing a lot more of each other from now on.'_

That could only mean one of two things. The Head Boy was either Draco Malfoy or Blaise Zabini himself.

"Damn it." Hermione cursed.

Then her head snapped up as she heard voices outside the compartment door. She fixed a polite smile on her face and lifted her chin. The door slid open and she looked into the eyes of the new Head Boy as coolly and calmly as possible.

"Hello Granger"

XXXXX

_**Dun dun dun. Hahaha yea I'm just going to stop there. No not because I wanted to be mean but because I have to get back to studying for my exams. Exams suck, word of warning kids, don't grow up, being in you last few days of school is not actually that much fun.**_

_**To Christy: **__Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it. As for the Hermione/Blaise thing... Well don't get to excited yet haha. I haven't quiet decided on what the pairing is going to be yet. They are just the main characters for now.. And yes there is going to be lots and lots of Draco. He's Defiantly my fav too._

_**Thanks to Amber my beta**_

_**Adios**_

_**Jade Wildcat.**_


	3. Train Rides and Triangles Part 2

_**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Mrs Rowling.**_

_**A.N: Ok next chapter, well the second half, did it in two lots cos I didn't have time to write it all up in one go. So here it is. Enjoy.**_

**Chapter 2: Train Rides and Triangles, Part 2**

"Hello Granger."

"Hello Zabini" Hermione marvelled at how steady her voice sounded.

He strutted into the room and sprawled out gracefully on the seat opposite her. Hermione handed him the book marked 'Head Boy' in silver and lend back to survey him nonchalantly.

"Thank you" his voice was soft and smooth.

"You're welcome"

She flipped open her book to read a page.

"You were expecting me?"

Hermione glanced at him, his face, as always, was smooth and void of any emotion.

"Actually no." She watched his face carefully, "I assumed the Head Boy would be Ernie Macmillan."

She saw something flicker in his green-blue eyes.

"Are you serious?" there was a slight clipped quality about his voice now.

"No" She let amusement colour her tone.

His mouth twitched slightly, "I see"

"So" Hermione suddenly became business like, "How are we going to do this?"

Blaise sat up straighter, pulling himself into a more dignified and haughty persona to match her business woman posture.

"Well I think we should start with a pact to co-operate with each other." His silky voice sent shivers down her spine. "It wouldn't be very mature if the students saw their two Heads cursing and insulting each other every chance they get."

Hermione allowed herself a small smile. "Fair point. Alright then, a pact to be civil in front of other students."

Then to Hermione's surprise he held out his hand.

"It's a deal"

She reached forward and clasped his hand in a quick hand shake, searching for a trick. His hand dwarfed her small petite one and she was surprised to feel hard calluses'.

"Now" Hermione pulled her hand from his, "we will both have rooms in the heads quarters but we can sort that out later. What we need to decide is what to say to the prefects when they get here."

Blaise nodded thoughtfully but said nothing and Hermione sighed inwardly. Why did he have to be so damn quiet?

"Ok well I think we should first outline the rules and regulations and set up a meeting time to sort out patrols around Hogwarts." She glanced up and he nodded.

"Then talk about the authorities and responsibilities they have, outline the way the system generally works, work out any problems they have and ask if they have any questions." Hermione shut her mouth realising she was speaking to fast.

Why did Blaise make her so flustered? Maybe it was his too cool speech or emotionless attitude.

"Most of the prefects will be old hands." Blaise finally spoke up, "They will not need telling. So then we just send them on to patrol the train."

Hermione nodded, cutting short her musings over the strangely perfect young man. "So..." She fished for something to say. "Did you want to do the talking or should I?"

He looked up at her and smirked. Hermione immediately regretted the question.

XXXXXXXX

And that's how Hermione ended up talking to the 5th 6th and 7th year prefects of all houses. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad. Her friends all listened carefully to everything she said and those from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff that she didn't know were quiet and respectful. The Slytherins hardly said a word. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson sat as king and queen in their midst and kept them quiet, though Hermione assumed it was in support of Blaise rather than respect for her. A subtle sneer from Pansy confirmed it.

"So" Hermione concluded, "Are there anymore questions?"

Ginny raised her hand and spoke at a nod from Hermione. "Do you patrol with your partner from your house and year" She gestured to the Gryffindor boy beside her.

"No" Hermione shook her head. "Your partners will change from day to day. Anything else?"

Silence preceded her question. She turned instead to look at Blaise.

"Anything to add?"

The Italian wizard looked up and his sea green eyes swept the crowded compartment. They rested on each person in turn before moving on to the next. The girls in the room blushed and swooned under his gaze and the guys shifted uncomfortably. Only Draco and Ginny met his eyes, one amused, the other defiant.

"If you have any problems" Blaise's voice flowed musically, his accent making it all the more impacting and entrancing. "Any problems with each other, other students or even teachers. If you have a problem with anything pressing, don't hesitate to ask Miss Granger or myself for help."

Hermione nodded in approval, hiding her amazement.

"If that's all then you may go and patrol the train." Blaise dismissed them casually.

The prefects all got up to leave and Hermione gestured for Ron to go; she would catch up with him soon. She turned to pick up her Head Girls book and realised not everyone had left. Draco was talking quietly to Blaise and Pansy was standing near Hermione tapping the Head Girls book against her palm. Hermione glared at her, Pansy smiled in return.

"This book is a handy thing to have." The pug faced girls voice was bitter sweet. "It tells you so much interesting stuff. Like passwords, hidden rooms and secrete passages...."

"Indeed" Hermione replied and held out her left hand for the book, her right was curled around her wand. "I'll have it back now"

"I don't think so" Pansy held the book out of her reaches.

Then, too both girls shock, the book was yanked from Pansy's hand. Pansy spun like a scolded cat and glared, then blinked in surprise as Draco glared back.

"Dracey. . . " She simpered. "Let's go back to our compartment." She latched onto his arm and battered her lashes.

"Let go, Parkinson." Draco snapped shaking her off. "Go patrol like you were told."

"But Dracey... Don't you want to come with me?" She pouted.

"No" Draco growled through gritted teeth. "Now leave."

"What about you Blaisey" She sidled up to the handsome Slytherin. "You know how to treat a girl right."

"Leave us." His voice rumbled with angry.

"Fine!" She snapped and swept to the other side of the room. "We'll see if either of you get a warm bed next time you want it."

Hermione's stomach turned over at the thought as the girl stormed out. Glancing at the two Slytherins she realised they looked as disgusted as she felt.

"Since when has she ever been allowed to warm our beds anyway" muttered Draco. "Here Granger"

Her eyes widened when he handed the Head Girl book to her.

"Thank you" was all she could say.

He glanced at her "Don't mention it, I'd rather help you than that... " he preceded to use some of the worst language Hermione had ever heard.

She gaped at him then jumped when Blaise wacked him upside the head.

"Ouch!" Draco yelped, "What was that for?"

Blaise just looked at him. Draco scowled, then his expression cleared and he rolled his eyes.

"Right, sorry. I forgot you were like that. How about we continue this conversation somewhere else where there isn't a _lady_ present." His voice dripped sarcasm.

"That's better" Blaise smirked.

Draco nodded to Hermione and swept from the compartment, Blaise followed suit, bowing slightly to Hermione as he left.

Hermione stood in the middle of the compartment, staring at the closed door with her book clutched to her chest.

'_That was just plain weird._' She thought.

She had never liked Pansy but she could handle her, she could have quite easily gotten the book back. But Draco Malfoy and Zabini? She hadn't really had that much contact with the silent Italian. But now she remembered that her female house mates always sighed over him, saying how much of a gentleman he is. He seemed to have lived up to that rumour at least. She filed that information in her head along with the little she knew about him.

Now Malfoy was a different case, for one he had always hated her, for another he had always tolerated Pansy. Actually, Malfoy and Zabini had always been the Kings of Slytherin and combined with Pansy they had made the Silver Trio. Now it seemed to have been whittled down to the Silver Duo.

Hermione shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She would think about this later, right now she had other stuff to think about. She followed the departed Slytherin's sweeping out the door in a swirl of robes.

_**Alright. I'm sure popping these out faster than I thought I would. Hope you liked it. Thanks to all who reviewed, I'm glad you enjoy it and I hope this one kept you happy. Big thanks to my beta and sister AmberBrightEyes.**_

_**Adios**_

_**Jade Wildcat.**_


	4. Closets, Colours and Closed Doors

**A/N Ok yea as you know none of this belongs to me. Thanks for the reviews guys; it's always great to hear what others think. So this is the next chapter, enjoy.**

**Chapter 3: Closets, Colours and Closed Doors**

Hermione watched as students rushed through the rain into the entrance hall, dodging puddles and shrieking as they went. She climbed out of the carriage with her friends watching the guys take a run for the doors. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to help Lavender down the carriage steps. She and Parviti supported her as Luna and Ginny got her crutches. Hermione then cast a modified shield charm with a flick of her wand and the rain deflected off it, keeping them dry. They then set off to the castle at a slower pace laughing at the thought of the boys, who were surely wet. Upon entering the entrance, Hermione dissolved the charm and they walked gracefully into the great hall, waving goodbye to Luna and sitting opposite the boys. Hermione laughed at Harry and Ron as they tried to ring the water from there soaking clothes. Harry then rolled his eyes and cast a drying charm on himself, the others sheepishly followed suit.

"Nice of you to wait for us" Ginny declared punching Harry lightly in the arm.

"Sorry Gin, we didn't want to get wet." Harry said with a laugh, catching her fist and placing their hands on the table.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "And how did that work out for you?"

Harry just grinned and shrugged as he turned her hand to link their fingers. "Oh well, no harm done."

Ginny smiled at him and the group slowly broke back into the chatter that had started on the train. Hermione only half listened as she kept her eyes on the door. The sudden scattering of students clearing a path at the doors alerted Hermione to their arrival. The Slytherins. Well the older ones anyway. They split the crowed down the middle without lifting a finger and Hermione had to wonder if it was out of fear or respect that the students moved.

Draco and Blaise were in the lead with two blonde girls flanking them. The girls looked enough alike to be sisters, with one looking a year or two younger. Theodore Nott and Gregory Goyle came just behind the leaders, followed by Pansy and a group of younger boys and girls.

As Hermione watched, the younger blonde girl slipped and Blaise lunged smoothly to grab her arm before she could fall. She watched as he said something to her, keeping his hand under her arm. The girl blushed and nodded at Blaise then cast a glance at Draco. She seemed to relax when she realised he hadn't seen her slip. Blaise released her arm and they continued. The Slytherins swept up the isles to their table and sat in a distinct formation around Draco and Blaise. The Slytherin Kings sat and then, to Hermione's shock, they both glanced up, right into her gaze. Their faces were expressionless and they didn't return the polite nod Hermione sent their way.

Breaking eye contact, Hermione's gaze swept the Slytherin table and she suppressed a sigh. There had once been more students at that table. Many of the elder students were missing, some of the younger too. Her eyes continued to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, faces were absent there as well. Her eyes finally came to rest on the Gryffindor table. Their ranks were sorely depleted; the war had taken many lives.

Hermione shook herself out of her morbid thoughts and turned her attention to Professor Mc Gonagall who was addressing the school. Her speech ended shortly and the sorting began.

"So who do you think they are?" Ron leaned forward to ask Harry and Hermione.

"Who?" Harry asked blankly.

"The teachers" Ron looked at them like it was obvious.

Hermione and Harry immediately scanned the teachers table. There were three new teachers, a male, a female and a cloaked figure that could be either.

"Teachers for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Muggle Studies." Hermione declared.

"Transfiguration?" Ron questioned, "But Mc Gonagall's still here"

"Yes, but she's the Headmistress now. She can't manage both you know." Hermione smiled, amused.

"Huh"

"Wonder which is which." Harry mused.

"I bet the woman is the Muggle Studies teacher" Seamus joined the conversation.

"No way, she's defiantly the DADA teacher." Ginny announced.

"What makes you say that?" asked Dean

"Well we've never had a female one, I think it would be a nice change." Ginny grinned and shrugged.

They all laughed, then clapped as Korannae, Jodie was sorted into Gryffindor. They continued to discuss the teacher prospects though getting interrupted as half the school let out loud hisses. Hermione glanced up to see a boy make his way to the Slytherin table his red face bent towards the ground. Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Dean frowned and scowled at Seamus and Ron as they booed the boy.

"Quarida, Grace." Mc Gonagall called.

A terrified girl with black hair, made her way to the stool and tried on the het.

"GRYFFINDOR"

They all cheered the relived girl.

Hermione kept a closer eye on the Sorting from then on, she had a frown on her face by the time Mc Gonagall reached the T's. Mc Gonagall had a matching one on her face.

"What's wrong 'Mione?" Harry asked

Hermione placed a finger to her lips, the whole group stopped talking and watched Hermione watch the sorting.

"Tajante, Jose (Hose-Aye)."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Applause from the Slytherin's, boos and hisses from the rest of the school.

"Tanner, Melody."

"HUFFLEPUFF"

Applause. The list continued, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw. . . ."

"Vinidad, Tia"

A blonde, blue eyes girl walked gracefully to the hat and sat prettily on the stool.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The young girl smirked as the school booed and hissed. Hermione's frown deepened Mc Gonagall's followed suit. The sorting ended with Zeller, Josh being sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Ten" Hermione declared, as food appeared. "Just ten."

To everyone's surprise it was Dean who nodded seriously, looking like he understood.

"OK. I'll bite." Harry said with a chuckle. "Ten what?"

"Slytherin's" Hermione explained. "Out of all those kids there were only ten were Slytherin's"

"So?" Ron looked confused.

"There were only twelve Gryffindor's" Dean added. "Most went to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."

"So?" Ron said again.

"So," Hermione frowned at him. "There were two years worth of first years in that group* and TEN went to Slytherin. Just ten."

Mc Gonagall interrupted their convocation then, cutting off Ron's reply.

"We have three new teachers on the staff. Everyone, please welcome; Miss Hall, who is your new Transfiguration teacher"

The woman was plain looking, with brown hair and eyes, she smiled and nodded at the polite applause.

"Mr Daniels," Continued Mc Gonagall. "Who will be your Muggle Studies teacher."

The man was old with grey hair and beard, he inclined his head to the school.

"And Mr Savage" Mc Gonagall finished, "who will be your DADA teacher"

Hermione's head jerked up in surprise and she locked eyes on the last teacher as he stood and lowered the hood on his robe. A murmur ran around the hall as the man's face was revelled. He was young, much younger than the other teachers. He was only about 24 or 25 with golden blonde hair and deep black eyes. He turned smiling at the school then looked at Hermione, he winked and sat down again.

Hermione turned to look at Harry and Ron, they both looked shocked, though any conversation they could of had was drowned out by everyone digging in to the food and talking about their holiday. The trio frowned and started eating allowing themselves to be drawn into the conversations around them. Though Hermione's eyes darted from the teachers table to the Slytherin's every few minutes, getting a shiver every time a set of eyes met hers.

XXXXXXXX

The feast was soon over and before Hermione knew it she and Blaise were following Mc Gonagall to the heads quarters. The password was given to a portrait of a young man and woman, they stepped inside and Mc Gonagall left them with a warning to be civil.

Together they turned to survey their new home. There was a flutter of colour as they turned and the room was suddenly filled with a blinding, rainbow coloured lights. It disappeared as quickly as it had come and they blinked to clear their sight. They continued to blink, this time in shock as they stared at the room. When they had stepped into the room it had been completely bare, now it had changed.

There was a magnificent fire roaring in the hearth, around it were multiple arm chairs, couches, small tables and a beautiful woven rug. All were in a pleasing colour scheme of green and gold. The floor was made of rich, dark wood, the tables and legs of the furniture matched with the same wood. The common room was large, though not as large as the house ones. A kitchen was linked to it and on either side of the fire place were wooden staircases. Hermione and Blaise glanced at each other, shrugged and moved towards opposite staircases. Hermione went right and Blaise went left.

Hermione padded cautiously up the flight of stairs and opened the single door at the top to enter a shockingly white room. She raised an eyebrow. It was white. Not even cream but white. Everything, the walls, the desk, the bed and covers, the door, all white. Then she felt a strange tingling feeling in her feet, an identical feeling started up in her hand that was still holding the door knob. Hermione glanced down and jumped in surprise, colour was slowly spreading from her feet across the floorboards. Colour spread also from her hand. She watched in stunned silence as the colour rushed to cover the floor, splash up the walls and leak into corners. It coated the des and chair, stained the bed and covers and burst into magnificent being on the roof. She allowed herself a slow smile as she looked at her new room.

'_That's more like it' _she thought.

The walls and bed covers were now a lovely, periwinkle blue, edged in soft white. The floor, desk, chair, doors, bedposts and chest were warm, honey coloured wood. But it was the roof that was fascinating, it showed a bright blue sky with soft white clouds and a blazing sun that she could actually feel. It was the perfect summer's day. She took a quick peek through one door and immediately lost interest, it was a walk in wardrobe. She walked across the room and opened the last door. She found herself looking into a blindingly white and spotless bathroom. On the other side of the room stood Blaise, one hand still on the door knob to his room. They both took a tentative step inside, watching for colour to grace its white existence.

They weren't disappointed. A sea green rushed from Hermione's feet, while a grey-blue leaped way from Blaise. The colours streaked towards each other and met in a burst. They swirled together and rebounded, coating the room. The bathroom now had the bizarre effect of being underwater, right down to the fish swimming round the walls. It was a big bathroom, two baths, two showers, two sinks and two toilets all neatly symmetrical. The room was exactly split in half. Hermione nodded, satisfied and returned to her room to start unpacking her trunk.

She had just finished placing her last book in a book case, which had appeared the minute she had pulled out the first book, when she heard her door open. She turned to see Blaise walk in. His hazel eyes took in her room and he smirked.

"Next time try knocking, Zabini" Hermione advised dryly, "You do realise a girl needs privacy right?"

He looked her up and down, face blank again.

"Oh. I had forgotten you were female."

Hermione glared, "Did you want something or did you just come to insult me?"

His mouth twitched "I came to insult you."

"Charming" she snapped. "Get out Zabini, I don't want to see your face anymore than I have to."

Instead he took another step into the room, she scowled.

"Interesting choice of colour," He raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't realise the Gryffindor bookworm was so utterly Ravenclaw. Maybe the hat can make mistakes."

"I belong in Gryffindor just as much as everyone else!"

Blaise smirked, he could practically see the anger radiating of her. Then he blinked and his smirk slipped off his face. He DID see the anger coming off her!

It swooped in red and gold waves across the room and slammed into him. He gazed silently at the room, the whole colour scheme had changed into red and gold. Hermione glared at him.

"Get out Zabini"

He obliged.

"Good night." She said and slammed the door in his face.

'_Lovely.'_ Thought Blaise sarcastically, walking back down the stairs and up his. _'She's such a pleasant house mate.'_

He collapsed gracefully onto his bed and looked around his golden room.

'_Gold'_ He thought scornfully, _'For a Slytherin?'_

He growled softly. _'No! This was not good enough. He was Slytherin for Merlin's sake!'_

He watched as his room transformed into green and silver brilliance.

'_Better. Much better.'_

_**XXXXX**_

_**Alright guys thats the end of this chapter.**_

_***The reason why there's two years worth of first years is because the school closed down for a year to be fixed so there are now two years worth of first years to be sorted.**_

_**Thanks to my beta Amber Bright-Eyes.**_

_**Hope you all enjoy the story.**_


	5. Classes and ColdShoulders

**A.N : Hey guys. Usual disclaimer saying that I don't own Harry Potter. And just a quick apology for not updating in a while. I've been busy I guess. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

Chapter 4: Classes and Cold-shoulders

Hermione was up early the next day and on a mission. She laid out her cloths, books and bag filled with all her school necessities on her bed and went to take a shower. When she stepped back into her room afterwards and started to get changed, she heard the bathroom door lock and the water start to run. Blaise had obviously just gotten in. Perfect. She used her wand to tie her wild curls into a neat ponytail and paused to glance at herself in the mirror.

Seventh years were allowed to wear clothes other than the uniform. Today Hermione wore tight, blue jeans and a long-sleeved, white, v-neck top which flattered her soft curves. She smiled happily at the pretty look it gave her and grabbed a set or dark blue robes to wear over top. Leaving the robes undone, she grabbed her bag and slipped out the door. She was down the stairs, across the common room and out the door in a matter of seconds. She grinned, mission complete, Blaise was successfully avoided. She bounced off happily down the corridor to breakfast.

XXXXXXXX

Hermione was just biting into a piece of toast when a solid body slammed down next to her. She glanced up at the lanky redhead as he proceeded to stuff his face, grunting a hello to her and rolled her eyes. Harry, Neville, Dean and Seamus all say down rather more softly and selected food a bit slower.

"Hi Hermione" They all chorused.

"Hi guys" Hermione chirped brightly, turning away from Ron to talk to Harry on her other side.

"Ready for another year, Harry?"

He grinned, "Sure, bring on the torture." He chuckled weakly.

Hermione smiled, "It won't be that bad. There's not much more they can teach us really. And you already know all you need to begin auror training."

Harry nodded. "I know, and truth tell, it will be a nice break from it all, a chance to relax."

Hermione gave him an understanding smile, which he returned with a grateful one of his own. Then Ginny joined the group and the conversation turned to this year's quidditch team, of which Harry was captain. Hermione spent the rest of her breakfast in silence, letting her friends happy chatter wash over her. Near the end of breakfast Professor Hall, the new transfiguration teacher started handing out timetables, it seemed she had taken over as head of Gryffindor.

Hermione needed only a brief discussion before she was cleared to take all of her chosen subjects, Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes. She waited as Harry and Ron got cleared for DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, Charms and Herbology.

Then they were informed that by some weird turn of events, all those from 5th year and up were signed up for Healing classes. It was not debatable. Ron snorted at this idea but Harry had a look of interest that surprised Hermione.

Glancing down at her timetable Hermione was pleasantly surprised to find that she now had a free period. She agreed to met the two boys in the Heads Common room in a few minutes, as they had to put up a sign for quidditch tryouts.

XXXXXXXX

Hermione made her way to her new dormitories and told the password to the portrait. '_What kind of password is "_Bloodclass_" anyway' _she mused. Shrugging it off, she curled up in a chair by the fire. It was a rather nice chair, gold and soft with green embroidery patterns and comfortable. She settled in and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and started to write.

Dear Fred and George

I know I just left, And I'm sure you weren't expecting a letter yet, but it seems there is a lot to tell you already.

Firstly, Blaise Zabini is Headboy. I am going to send a letter to Kingsley asking for his information. Do you know what his class is? I never asked, only assumed it was the same as Draco Malfoy's, I could be wrong of course, as I didn't think Professor Mc Gonagall would give him Headboy if it was.

Secondly, Savage is the new DADA Professor. How did this happen? And how do they expect me to. . . .

The portrait door swung open and Hermione glanced up in surprise as Blaise and Draco walked through, deep in conversation. They both shut up as soon as they saw Hermione.

"Granger" They both acknowledged in unison.

"Zabini, Malfoy" Hermione murmured back, "Good morning"

All three paused, at a loss for what to say. Draco looked her up and down then shrugged and flopped gracefully into a chair opposite her. The moment he touched the chair it started to change, and Draco sat with a look of shock on his face as the chair wriggled and twisted under him before settling again. It had been an armchair like Hermione's, high backed with arm rests. But now its soft upholstery had morphed into black leather. It had lengthened into a recliner, low backed with one small armrest. It was posh, expensive looking, yet still made for comfort. All three young adults eyed the chair and Blaise gingerly sat in the one next to it. This one stayed an armchair, yet it became a deep green and seemed posher, less squishy than Hermione's, though comfortable all the same.

There was silence in the room. Hermione glanced at the two men, evaluating. They were very similar yet so different. Both of their expressions held no emotion. One was pale and smooth with an upper class, sophisticated air, calm and calculating. The other was olive tanned and haughty, less upper class and more casual boredom, but watchful, untrusting. Yet both had the look of control, the air of power and the eyes that spoke of horrific sights. Haunted eyes.

"Congratulations are in order it seems." Hermione declared, having found her voice. She looked at Draco. "You must be very pleased Malfoy."

Both young men hid their confusion well.

"Pleased?" Draco questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

"About being made quidditch captain, of course." She nodded to the badge on his chest.

"Oh. . . Yes. I am. It's a great honour." The last part contained a sneer and an eye roll, brushing off its meaning.

"Yes." Hermione murmured and went back to righting her letter.

There was silence for a few long minutes, then Draco's voice broke the spell.

"How can you stand it Granger?"

"Stand what?" Hermione questioned absently, glancing up at him.

"Stand just sitting here, in the same room as me." Draco snapped, his grey eyes flashing.

Hermione shrugged, "Why shouldn't I?"

"My father killed your parents" Draco's voice lashed her, sending pain shooting to her chest.

"I know" She replied steadily, feeling Blaise's evaluating gaze on her face.

"Well don't you want revenge?" Draco now sounded confused. "You could kill me now, no-one would question your reasons."

"Your father is in Azkaban and I'm the one who put him there" Hermione's eyes held Draco's cold one's "Don't you want revenge?"

Even Blaise looked surprised by that one.

"What?" Draco blinked in confusion.

"You know what your father faces every day?" Hermione raised a mocking eyebrow. "Angry Death Eaters, Hellhounds, Bogarts and Manticores. I hear they've even got Nundu's and Thestrals halping to guard it now."

Draco became angry again. "I don't care." His silver eyes flashed. "My father is dead to me."

"Then it doesn't matter." Hermione whispered. "You're father killed my parents, not you. So my revenge is for him. I will not condemn you simply because you are his son. That would be. . . . Unjust."

"You're such a friggin saint!" Draco snarled, losing his cool.

"I'm far from perfect Malfoy!" Hermione snapped back, "And I certainly don't give a damn what you think of me."

With that she turned back to her letter, polity ignoring both Slytherin's.

Draco glared at her the turned to mutter something rude in Italian to an impassive Blaise. Blaise snickered but said nothing as they pulled out books and parchment. As they had not yet had classes, Hermione assumed they were not doing homework. Draco continued in a steady stream of Italian mutterings as Blaise listened, throwing in a random comment now and then. The only sign Hermione showed of having heard was a twitch of her lips or a flicker of her eyes.

Harry and Ron knocked on the door shortly afterward and Hermione jumped up to let them in.

"Great." She heard Draco mutter sarcastically. "The Chosen One and his lap dog. Let's get out of here."

Draco got up to head for the door, but Blaise dragged him backwards.

"My room will be quieter and it's quicker to reach."

"Yea, good idea. Gets us away from dumb and dumber."

By the time Harry and Ron entered they were half way up the staircase and Hermione was sighing in relief at having warded the doors to her room. Merlin knows what they might have done otherwise.

"They giving you any trouble?" Ron asked as he collapsed into a chair.

Hermione's reply was cut off as Ron yelled and jumped back out of his chair. Harry and Hermione instinctively drew their wands before laughing as Ron surveyed his chair, suspicion written across his face. After Hermione explained about the chairs he sat down again, but cautiously.

"And no, Ron, They haven't given me any trouble." Hermione answered as the two boys settled. "They merely conversed in Italian. Perfectly harmless."

Harry glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow. She winked at him and he chuckled quietly. Ron, having completely missed this exchanged, launched into a talk about classes and the stupidity of the" Healing Lessons."

Hermione listened dutifully though not agreeing at all and so was thoroughly surprised when Harry spoke up, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I duno Ron, I think they might be a good idea."

Ron took a breath to continue before letting it out in a whoosh. "What?"

Harry shrugged, "Well just think what you could do. If you cut yourself you could just flick your wand and it's gone. You could heal a broken nose, a twisted ankle or a hole in your tongue." The last bit was touched with a teasing tone and Ron blushed.

"I mean, during the war. . ." Harry paused, his eyes darkening. "We were helpless. Even Hermione didn't know how to heal. If we had been seriously injured there would have been nothing we could of done."

Ron's face turned thoughtful. "You're right." He nodded slowly. "And when we become Auror's, we're going to need to know how to heal."

"Exactly!" Hermione beamed at Harry, happy to see him thinking ahead and thus making Ron do so too.

Ron sighed and rolled his eyes. "Bring on the healing classes then." He proclaimed, sounding unimpressed.

Hermione's giggle was cut off when a voice snapped out from the stairs.

"Wait, what?"

All three turned to look at Draco and Blaise, who were lounging midway down the stairs.

"That's what these classes are about?" Draco queried. "Healing spells and stuff?"

"Of course" Hermione stated, ignoring Harry and Ron's weary faces. "What did you think they were about?"

Draco glanced at Blaise, who raised an eyebrow, then back to Hermione. "Counselling" He said with a shrug.

"Excuse me?" Hermione gapped at him as Harry raised his eyebrows and Ron looked confused.

Draco frowned. "You know, it's a muggle thing. A person lays you on a couch, asks you lots of questions about how you feel and shows you random ink splotches on paper. . . ." His voice died off and he seemed unsure "Counselling. . ."

Harry and Hermione exchanged weary glances.

"Malfoy" Hermione paused. "Have you been watching muggle movies?"

"No!" Draco denied, sounding outraged.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him and he immediately became more collected.

"Of course not Granger." He drawled. "Don't be obscured. What would a pure blood like me do with a muggle invention? Only a Mudblood would bother with such a thing."

Ron scowled. "Shut up Malfoy!"

"Ignore him, Ron." Hermione said calmly, absentmindedly picking up her letter and writing another sentence.

Ron sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, your right Hermione, after all. . ." A cocky grin broke out over his face. "He pretty much just called himself a muggle born.."

Harry laughed and Hermione smiled at this display of twisted logic.

"Are you daft, Weasley?" Draco sneered. "I just said I was a pureblood."

"What class have we got next, Harry?" Ron turned to question his mate.

"Ummm . . . Potions I think." Harry answered with a sidelong glance at Hermione.

"That's right Hermione murmured, trying to ignore the incredulous look on Draco's face.

"Right." Ron nodded. "Guess we had better head off and get our stuff then."

Harry nodded and stood when Ron did, still bemused.

"Coming 'Mione?" Ron asked, holding out his hand to the surprised girl.

"Of course." Hermione said. "Just wait outside. I have to get my books.

"Ok."

The boys trooped out the door and Hermione turned to gather her stuff. Draco eyed her before walking down the stairs.

"I think you're wrong." He stated, ignoring Blaise as he winced.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, turning to face him.

"About these classes. I think you're wrong."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well I think you're wrong. What difference does it make?"

Draco smirked. "I propose a bet."

Hermione sighed. "And what would we be betting?"

Draco shrugged, "I duno, it doesn't really matter." He seemed to think. "Ok. If you're right I will be nice to you for a weak and vice versa."

Hermione nodded. "Deal." She held out her hand and to her utter shock Draco lent forward to grip it in a brief hand shake.

She nodded to both boys then slipped out the portrait door and joined Harry and Ron.

XXXXXXXXX

**OK that's all I've got for now. Sorry again that it took so long, I've been busy. **

**R&R**

**Jade Wildcat.**


	6. Potions, Plans and Praticles

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Mrs J. K. Rowling.**

**A.N: Hey guys, sorry for the huge gap in writing. I have three other fan fiction stories to write. Plus two of my own stories I'm writing. And I had work to do, including a move to Hamilton then another move back home. And I crashed my car. Anyway. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 5: Potions, Plans and Particles**

Hermione sat at the back of the potions room scrawling her quill lazily across her parchment. She glanced up at Professor Slughorn and upon seeing him busy trying to explain what had gone wrong with Theodore Notts potion to the annoyed looking boy, she looked back down at the random drawings that covered her parchment. It shocked her to realise that this is all she had been doing for the last half hour having already finished her potion in the first lesson of double potions. But she couldn't help it. She was bored, and Slughorn had said that because her potion was perfectly brewed she didn't have any homework on it.

She sighed and glanced over at Harry who sat on her left. He was giving his potion one last check. He saw Hermione's gaze and gave her a smile before turning and calling over Slughorn.

Slughorn bounced over.

"Harry my boy! What have you got for me? Another amazing potion to rival your 6th year no doubt!"

He beamed happily at the blushing Gryffindor who mumbled and gestured to his potion. Slughorn peered eagerly into Harry's cauldron and gave it a slow stir. He frowned in concentration and scoped some up, letting it fall slowly back into the cauldron. Then he gave it a sniffed. Harry, Hermione and Ron all watched as he nodded thoughtfully. Hermione had to wonder what his problem was, the potion was the right consistency, the right metallic black colour and smelled almost exactly as it should. It was quiet obviously worth an E.

"That, my boy" Slughorn started slowly. "Is. . . Perfect!" The last word seemed to explode out of him and there was a sudden crash as Ron, who had been leaning around Hermione to see, fell suddenly of his chair. "That's an E for you Harry!"

"What!" Ron and Harry exclaimed in unison.

"Ah now Harry, you mustn't be disappointed." Slughorn said sympathetically. "I know you wanted an O and I would dearly love to give it to you. But we both know the smell wasn't exactly perfect and there's a hint of blue in the colour. Still, it's a good effort my boy, marvellous, though Miss Granger here is still the top in the class so far."

Harry and Hermione exchanged amused glances and Slughorn beamed at them both.

"Now!" The professor clapped his hands. "Let's see what you've got for me Mr Weasley!"

Ron gulped but settled himself back in his chair and displayed his potion for assessment. To Hermione's surprise, Ron's also seemed to her to be worth an A at least.

"Hmm" Slughorn mused, "Its more midnight blue than black, and it's a tad thick lad. But I'll give you an A for it and a pat on the back for a good effort!"

Ron gapped at Slughorn in shock, which he somehow mistook as gratitude.

"Save your thanks Lad!" he exclaimed. "You'll do much better next time. I just know it!"

With that he swooped off to Zabini's desk, leaving the golden trio in a state of bemusement.

XXXXXXXX

"Well" Ron said as they strolled out of potions, heading for the great hall. "That wasn't too bad huh?"

Hermione laughed and Harry grinned back at Ron.

"Not too bad at all" he agreed. "Now we just have to get through Transfiguration and those Healing classes, not a bad first day really."

"Yea" Ron mused, "kinda strange to be back though, you know? I mean it seems so long ago that we were like the first years, or the second years, or even the third years." He sighed. "I kind of wish we still had that kind of carefreeness."

He reached over and absentmindedly took Hermione's hand, squeezing it and looking down at the signet ring that was on her middle figure. Harry and Hermione exchanged a surprised glance and then Hermione smiled and squeezed his hand back.

"Well we may not be carefree anymore, but that doesn't stop Hogwarts from being Hogwarts. I think we should enjoy this year as much as we can. No regrets."

Yea" Harry mused. "I like the sound of that." He slung and arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Let's give this year all we've got. Give Hogwarts something to remember us by."

Ron laughed. "Duno if Hogwarts could ever forget us mate. We practically blew it to pieces."

The three laughed and strolled into the great hall arm in arm, ignoring everyone who looked at them funny.

XXXXXXX

On the other side of the hall Draco Malfoy snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Look at them," he muttered to Blaise. "Bloody idiots the lot of them."

His eyes tracked the golden trio as they crossed the room and took seats at the Gryffindor table. Blaise followed his line of sight and a twitch of his lips betrayed his amusement.

"Granger is hardly an idiot Draco." Blaise reminded him smoothly. "And Potter did get the same mark as you in Potions. "

Draco raised an eyebrow at him. "Thanks Blaise, it's nice to know I have your support in all matters."

Blaise smirked. "Well you might be right about Weasley. After all he got the same mark in Potions as Pansy. "

Draco grimaced, "Shocking effort" he agreed, "even Goyle could have done better."

Both boys smirked as they heard Pansy's gasp of indignation down the table from them.

"Still," Blaise mused. "The other two are hardly idiots. Potter has his stupid moments and Granger is known to be irrational. But they did take down the Voldimort, and his followers. As well as stay alive well on the run, and somehow manage to keep their innocence, judging from that display."

He nodded to where the Gryffindors' were all laughing boisterously at something one had done or said. Their table contrasted greatly with the Slytherin table, where there were only, solemn, sullen, depressed or just plain blank faces.

"Humph" Draco frowned. "Well that just won't do. You're going to have to do something about that. Raise moral or create some sort of bounding exercise or something."

Blaise chocked on his pumpkin juice. "Excuse me!"

People all around the hall turned to stare at Blaise in surprise. Blaise raised his chin and eyed the starrers in a way that promised trouble if they didn't turn away. Heads quickly turned back to dinners, and Blaise noticed that though Harry and Ron both were looking at him Hermione hadn't bothered to turn from her conversation with Ginny. For some reason that annoyed him. But he turned back to Draco.

"Why me?' he asked smoothly in a quieter tone.

"Well your Head Boy, I'm just a prefect." Draco smirked, "It's your job, not mine. Maybe you can even ask Granger to help you."

Blaise through a piece of toast at him, then turned to look at Hermione, she was bent down to talk to a couple of first years from Ravenclaw. '_Probably talking about their timetables or something' _he mused.

"No" I think she's got her hands full with the other three houses."

Draco nodded and turned his attention back to his house mates. Blaise followed his lead, ignoring the Gryffindors.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione sat alert in her seat, waiting for the new Transfiguration teacher to arrive.

"Hermione relax." Harry said with a chuckle, "It's just a new teacher, it's not that important."

"But I'm Head Girl Harry, I'm supposed to make a good impression. You're not even a prefect."

"Aw come on Hermione." Ron laughed "You don't see Blaise looking all up tight."

The three glanced over to observe Blaise. He was sitting straight, backed and alert in his seat, his eyes on the door well a bored looking Draco lounged in his chair.

Hermione smirked at Ron, "You were saying?"

"Fine." Ron grumble, "You win."

Harry laughed again as Hermione straightened up and turned back to the door. She was just in time as the door opened and Professor Hall walked through the door. The class jumped as she closed the door with a snap. She strode purposefully towards the front of the room. From there she surveyed the students, her dark brown eyes sharp.

"You!" her arm snapped out, a long finger pointing at Lavender. "What's your name?"

"Lavender Brown." Lavender answered quickly.

"I see." The woman looked at her with a frown. "Change your hair to brown and your eyes to green, now!"

Lavender hastily pulled out her wand and muttered a few words, her hair and eyes changed to the assigned colours.

"Humph." Professor Hall remarked. "Slow work."

"You!" her hand snapped to Ron this time. "Do the same"

Ron pointed his wand at his face and spoke the words his hair and eyes changing to."

"There's still some Red in your hair." The teacher accused making Ron blushed.

"You!" Draco was the next target. He whipped out his wand and did the spells flawlessly.

"I did not tell you what I wanted you to yet boy!" the woman snapped. "Change it back!"

Draco looked stunned and changed his appearance back.

"I want you to make your nose look like mine. Now!"

Draco paused, and then did as requested.

"Slow!" Came the cry. "You!"

Harry cringed, "Red hair, purple skin! Go!"

Harry flicked his wand and turned his hair red and skin and pinkie-purple colour.

"You call that purple! You!"

And so it went around the class room, each tested on different bits of human transfiguration, until only Hermione and Blaise were left.

"You!" Blaise raised his wand, waiting. "Turn everyone in the class room blue except you and me"

Blaise didn't bat an eyelid, mumbling a few words and waving his wand in a complicated fashion. Everyone turned blue.

"Good!" It was the first praise she had given. The teacher changed everyone back again. "You!"

Hermione raised her wand. "Change the girl's hair blue and the boy's hair pink."

Hermione opened her mouth

"Non-Verbally!"

Hermione gritted her teeth and waved her wand in a few patterns, and then sure enough she turned their hair the appropriate colour.

"Very good! That is the level you should all be at. If you cannot do that you should not be here." Her sharp eyes swept the class room. "Whoever thinks they should not be here now can leave. You will not be in trouble. You will not be penalised. You will merely forfeit the class."

There was an intense silence. Then a chair scrapped and a Hufflepuff girl stood.

"Thank you for the lesson, Professor." The girl murmured then left the class room.

There was a second's pause then Seamus got up and left waving Goodbye to Dean and the others. The rest of the class stayed, sitting to attention.

A smile swept over the Professor's lips. "Welcome to 7th year Transfiguration."

XXXXXXXX

They steamed out of the classroom, minds full to burst and eyes tired from reading small cramped notes.

"Should've quit when I had the chance," mumbled Ron sullenly.

Harry grinned, in a mind numb kind of way, "What and miss all the fun?"

"Oh fun, is that what that was?" Dean asked from behind, and Lavenders bell-like laughter followed.

"Well, I thought it was a good lesson." Hermione said as pompously as she could manage. "She was informative, well prepared and...."

"Hermione!"

Hermione laughed, causing the others to grin.

"Come on, let's get to the Healing Class," Ron prompted "Who knows who's taking this one. Don't want to be late"

This caused more laughter as the ambled off, the sullen Slytherins' walking in their wake.

XXXXXXXXX

The class trooped into the new class, eyes scanning it suspiciously. It seemed normal enough at first. There were the normal stone walls, normal book shelves with text books, normal seats and teacher's desk. Hermione blinked. Where were _their_ desks? They had chairs, avenged in a circle around the room, but no desks. She exchanges looks with Harry and Ron.

Harry sighed, "This'll be fun," he muttered.

Ron snorted and Dean shrugged, "Guess we find seats huh."

He sat in the nearest seat, and Seamus, who had just caught up with them shrugged and held out a chair for Lavender, she blushed and thanked him, taking the seat next to Dean, laying her crutches at her side. Seamus smiled and sat on her other side. Parviti sat next to Seamus and Neville handed Lavender her bag, which he had carried, before sitting next to Parviti. Ron shrugged and sat on Deans other side, he patted the seat next to him, looking at Hermione, but an oblivious Harry sat there instead. Hermione hid a smile and sat next to Harry. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws filed in next to Neville, leaving the Slytherins standing aloof by the door.

As they waited talking broke out among the seated houses, but the Slytherins stayed quiet, watching the others with a range of emotions on their faces. Draco held the slightly bored, but better-than-thou look he was known for, where as Pansy, hovering at his side, looked sullen and mean. Daphne had a contemptuous expression on her face and Theodore Nott looked suspicious. Goyle was Goyle, standing next to an annoyed looking Millicent Bulstrode, a tiny girl, who Hermione didn't know the name of stood by Millicent, appearing unconcerned with everything. Another girl stood behind her, sneering at the other houses. Then there was Blaise, looking strategically blank, unreadable.

The door opened then, revelling, to everyone's shock, Madam Pomfrey.

"Good afternoon students." She said with a smile. "I will be your teacher for this lesson only. Please take a seat."

This was obviously directed at the Slytherins as the rest were already sitting. They filed into the seat, fighting not to sit next to Hermione on one side and Hannah Abbott on the other. Hermione sighed, bloody prejudice Slytherins. She found here self sitting next to Theodore Nott who had obviously lost the fight on this side. To her surprise he nodded to her.

"Hello Granger."

"Nott" she acknowledged with a nod of her own.

They both turned away at the same time, looking to Madam Pomfrey for their cues.

"Now, we are going to start the lesson off with some group exercises." Pomfrey beamed at them. "All you need to do is right your name on a piece of parchment and place it in the bowl I pass around."

She handed a wooden bowl to Hannah, who wrote her name and passed it round. The bowl went round the circle, each adding their name some more willingly than others.

"Lovely!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed when it came back to her. "Now, I'm going to pull five names out of the bowl. Those five will be the leaders of the groups, when your name is called you must stand and find your own space in the room, the rest of your group will be added after."

Everyone nodded to show they understood and Madam Pomfrey pulled out the first name.

"Neville Longbottom!"

Neville blushed and stood, moving to a corner of the room.

"Hannah Abbott!"

Hermione smiled, _interesting choices for leaders so far_, she thought.

"Draco Malfoy!"

Hermione cringed, _hope I'm not in his group_.

"Pansy Parkinson!"

Pansy pouted at not being in Draco's group.

"And Sarah Fawcett!"

"Now that we have our leaders, the next name I pull will be in Neville's group, the next in Hannah's, then Draco's and so on. Ready? Good."

"Susan Bones, Harry Potter, Blaise Zabini, Michael Corner, Dean Thomas, Ernie Macmillan, Ron Weasley, Theodor Nott, Gregory Goyle, Seamus Finnegan, Holly Montgomery, Millicent Bulstrode, Hermione Granger, Lavender Brown, Parviti Patal, Morag Mac Dougal, Lisa Turpin, Zacharias Smith, Terry Boot, Sally-Anne Perks, Mandy Brocklehurst, Anthony Goldstein, Daphne Greengrass, Thomas Moon and Jake Zeller"

Hermione walked over to her group, trying to hide her alarm. Draco, Blaise, Theodor, Zacharias and Daphne, could her group be any worse? Not only were they all Slytherin except one, but the other one was Zacharias! She sighed and joined her group, watching Harry and Ron enviously.

Her whole group looked uncomfortable, except of course for Blaise, of course.

"Now!" Madam Pomfrey clapped her hands, "Everyone sit in a circle in your groups, you are going to go through some bonding exercises. Hurry now!"

Hermione sat with her group, Daphne on her left and Zack on her right.

"The first thing you are all going to do is, one at a time, tell your most scariest memory." Everyone looked at the woman as though she was crazy.

"Well go!" She encouraged.

Hermione turned and looked at her group. "So.... Who starts?"

Draco smirked. "Why don't you start, _Hermione_."

She glared, "Why me?"

"Cos I'm group leader, so you have to do what I tell you." He snarled.

"Fine!"

**And I'm leaving it there, why? Cos I've been writing all day and I'm tired. So enjoy. And review please.**

**Wildcat**

**Over and out**


	7. Bumps Bruses and Sore Prides

**A.N ok making up for lost time a little bit. Hope to pop this one out a bit quicker than last time. Enjoy. Thanks to my mate Sammy for the ideas in this one, she's a constant supporter of random and weird ideas. Huge thanks to Mysteriouslife, I loved your review, it's reviews like that that make me keep writing.**

Chapter 6:** Bumps, Burses and Sore Prides.**

"Fine!" Hermione snapped.

A slight pause followed in which everyone seemed to be holding their breath and Hermione frowned, eyeing the floor.

"Well?" Draco asked, somewhat less aggressively.

"Let me think, I can't just pop out an answer on demand you know!" Hermione glared at him.

"Oh right." Draco said sheepishly, "Sorry."

The group fell silent again and watched as Hermione's eyes clouded, obviously remembering.

"My scariest memory takes place in my first year here." Hermione's voice came out somewhat breathlessly and the group lend forward, unconsciously being drawn into her story.

"I was out on the quidditch pitch, Harry, Ron and the other boys had been discussing flying, saying how great it was, how exhilarating. I decided I wanted to try it, see what all the fuss was about, so I asked Fred Weasley if I could borrow his broom. He didn't mind in the slightest, even walked me down to the pitch and showed me what to do. He told me how to mount and after telling me the basics he told me to go for it. So I pushed off."

Hermione paused and took a breath, a slight shake to her hands.

"I went straight up in to the air, higher than I had ever been, it was... The most amazing feeling. Then the wind hit me, it was a huge wind current, above the pitch, it caught me and there was nothing I could do. It spun me around, flipping me off the broom, leaving me hanging, I got bucked around before I finally managed to pull myself back on. But I was still completely out of control and being blown into the forest, not a place I wanted to be. I couldn't see Fred anymore, but I was trying not to look at the ground. The wind battered me around and around, it spun me, flipped me, pushed me in different directions. I had no control over any of it. I finally touched down in the middle of the forest and had to start to walk back. Fred found me halfway, but I've never flown since. . . Well except once, during the war."

There was silence.

"That's it?" Draco looked at her like she was crazy.

Everyone looked at him in the same way.

"That's your scariest memory? You went through the war at Harry-frickin-Potters side and THAT'S your scariest memory?"

Hermione glared at him. "Well what's your scariest memory Boss-Man? What part of the war scared you the most huh?"

Draco looked affronted, he glanced sidelong at Blaise, who gave him a blank look. It was testament to their friendship that Draco seemed to read something in that look, and the casual nod Theodor gave Draco implied he knew what was going on. Daphne and Zack looked lost. But they weren't known for great intelligence so this didn't bother Hermione much.

"My scariest memory. . . . Was when I thought my mother was going to be sent to Azkaban." Draco stared at his fingernails as he spoke. "My Mother is delicate, she went through so much because of my Father. She didn't deserve what happened, but she was a loyal wife, she stood by him for the family. She wouldn't have survived in Azkaban, with my Father, Death Eaters and others. And I wouldn't have been allowed to stay there with her. When they told us she would be placed under house arrest instead. . . . I've never felt more grateful in my life."

Like after Hermione's story, there was silence as everyone took this in.

Draco turned to Daphne. "Your turn."

"Yes Boss-Man!" Daphne saluted him, not even realising she had picked up Hermione's nickname for him.

Daphne's story was one about almost losing her younger sister to a dragon when on holiday one year. Zack's was about a dream he had once, but it was obvious he wasn't taking things seriously. Theo's was a complicated story about when he was younger and his mum was dying, he was lucky she pulled through.

Everyone turned to Blaise and waited.

Draco sighed and punched Blaise's arm lightly, "Your turn mate."

Blaise froze. The look on his face was dawning realisation, slight panic over took it, then his mask slammed down over everything.

"No"

Hermione blinked and shot a look at Draco. "What?" She asked Blaise.

"I said, no. I will not tell you my scariest moment." He added something in Italian but it was too fast for Hermione to understand.

There was a heavy pause as Hermione and Blaise's eyes locked. Everyone waited for the first fight between the new Heads of the school. Suddenly Hermione broke eye contact.

"Ok"

"W-what!" Zack spluttered. "How come he gets out of it?"

Draco turned icy eyes on him "It's none of your business!"

"It's favouritism!" He snapped back

"Don't be an idiot Zack" Hermione chided "Why in the name of Merlin would I favour a Slytherin?"  
Zack opened and closed his mouth a few times before crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat.

"Fine" He mumbled.

The moment was interrupted as Madam Pomfrey, gathered them up, making them sit in a circle on the chairs. Hermione found herself seated, to her annoyance, in between Draco and Theodore, with Blasie on Draco's other side. To her surprise, Draco leaned towards her.

"I guess I win," he murmured into her ear.

"What?" Hermione hissed back in surprise.

"The bet," he whispered "It's all stuff like, how did that make you feel, and what's was your saddest moment."

Hermione frowned and opened her mouth to say something when Madam Pomfrey's voice interrupted.

"Now!" Madam Pomfrey said happily, "It's time to move on to actual healing. Today you will be learning a very simple spell, it's used to dull mild pain."

Hermione shot Draco a superior smirk and Blaise covered his smile with his hand.

To Hermione's annoyance Pomfrey separated them into pairs to practice and she was inevitably placed with Draco. She glared at the Slytherin as he lounged in a chair.

"So, who wants to hurt first?" Her voice was sweet but her eyes said she felt otherwise.

Draco blinked. "Hurt?" He questioned.

"Yes. To dull pain with a spell there has to be a pain to dull." She gave him a look that said she thought he was stupid.

He glared, "You first then, Miss Know-It-All."

Hermione flicked her wand and he watched as a large bruise spread over her arm. She then held the arm out to him. "Of you go then, show me how it's done."

Draco tried not to stare at the mad girl across from him. Instead he pulled out his own wand and waved his wand the way Pomfrey had shown the class and muttered, "Esunae."

He watched the bruise then looked at Hermione, "Did it work?"

She nodded somewhat reluctantly. He smirked. "So I guess it's not as hard as it looks. Go on Granger your turn." He held out his arm, "Bruise me up."

He knew the moment she grinned that it had been a bad idea, but he didn't even have time to move before her fist swung back then forwards and clocked him right in the eye. Everyone in the room turned to look at Draco as he jumped up, holding his eye and snarling curses. The Gryffindor's laughed as Hermione sat smugly in her chair waiting for Draco to calm down.

"You crazy witch! You should be locked up! You can't go round just hitting people, especially not me!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Put a sock in it Malfoy. Esunae."

Draco stopped yelling as his eye stopped throbbing.

"Well done Miss Granger!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "Perfectly done."

"What?" Draco exclaimed. "She hit me!"

"Yes Mr Malfoy, for the sake of learning." The witch waved her wand and the bruising that was already starting to show around his eyes disappeared. "I think that's quiet enough for today. You are all free to leave class early. Well done."

The class streamed out the door, Harry and Ron throwing their arms around Hermione as she was swept up in a crowed of Gryffindor's.

**I know its short. Please don't kill me for it. More will soon follow I promise. I just have been very busy, and there's so many ideas trying to get out of my head. I've got at least 6 different chapters for my harmless prank story written down, but I need to write 2 to go before them, so I'm getting stuck. Plus I've got multiple ideas for my Falling story. And a new elfquest story coming on. And some ideas on my Wildcat one, as well as trying to focus on my own original noval. So enyoy this little bit for now, more is on its way I swear.**

**Wildcat out.**


	8. Damage, Death and Drunks

**Ok guys here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy it, sorry it took so long.**

**Chapter 7: Damage, Death and Drunks**

The Gryffindor's were in high spirits as they made their way to the DADA class room. They seemed to have forgotten the fact that they were about to have another new teacher in the light of Hermione punching Draco Malfoy for the second time in known history. They were followed by the amused Ravenclaw's but the Hufflepuff's had all split off, none having opted to go on with the class at this level.

The two houses crammed through the door to the classroom, a flustered Hermione still trapped at their heart and the grumbling Slytherine's , those that were able to take the class, following behind. The new Professor wasn't there yet so they all crowded into desks, still keeping up a high level of noise. Hermione sat at a desk with Ron on one side and Neville on the other. Harry grinned at her from his seat beside Ron.

"This will be fun, huh?" His enthusiasm made Hermione grin. Harry always had loved this class.

"It will be interesting." Hermione laughed "That much I can tell you."

Harry brushed it off with a laugh.

Ron grinned leaning his chair back. "How bad can it be?"

"MR WEASLEY!"

Ron fell backwards off his chair with a yelp and the Slytherin's burst into laughter.

The new Professor, Mr Savage, materialized out of thin air as Ron scrambled up off the ground and back into his chair. The females in the room, bar Hermione, swooned at the appearance of this mysterious man. He smiled crookedly at Ron then marched to the front of the class room. Turning back to the class he surveyed them through his dark eyes which contrasted sharply with his pale skin and golden hair. His eyes lingered on Hermione and his smile pulled up at one corner.

"Today's lesson," He announced in a striking, husky voice that made the girls eyes glaze, "Is all about remaining aware of your surroundings. I will teach you the value of surprise and why you should always remain vigilante."

His eyes roamed the class again, and then he smiled a deadly razor blade of a smile. Hermione's blood ran cold and she clutched her wand, her instincts went on high alert as Savage turned and stared her right in the eyes.

"Welcome, to Defence against the Dark Art's" He growled.

XXXXXXXXX

They stumbled out of the classroom an hour later, exhausted and mind numb. Daphne Greengrass was being supported on either side by Blaise and Draco, with Pansy coming up behind leaning on Theodore Nott's shoulder. Hermione was leading a stupefied looking Ron through the door way followed by Seamus being dragged by Dean and Harry. Neville was in behind supporting Parviti and making sure Lavender could keep up and the Ravenclaw's seamed speechless with shock tripping as they exited the room.

"That" Ron croaked out brokenly, "Was the worst lesson I have ever had in my entire life. Including all the ones with Umbridge."

There was a murmur of agreement from all three house and Hermione mused that it was probably the first time the Slytherin's had ever agreed with Ron.

"You said it Weasel." Pansy groaned as she clung to Nott. "Thank Merlin it's time for dinner."

"Here, here" Ron said with a grin.

The three houses dragged themselves down the corridor, dreading the long walk to the great hall but knowing a much needed feast waited for them.

The rest of the school looked up as they pushed open the doors to the hall and whispers ran around the room as they trooped in, tired, sweat soaked, bruised and, in some cases, bloody. They split to go to their own tables, nodding their goodbyes. Hermione helped Ron into an empty seat at the table, well Harry and Dean had to lift Seamus into his. Neville remained the perfect gentleman, making sure both Parviti and Lavender were comfortable before collapsing into a set of his own. Harry and Hermione finally slipped in on either side if Ginny who was gazing at the in shock.

"What on either happened to you?" She demanded.

Harry and Hermione exchanged exhausted looks, "Defence Against the Dark Arts." They sighed in unison, before starting to eat as rapidly as they could well remaining polite.

XXXXXXX

Getting up after dinner was not an experience Hermione ever wanted to repeat. Everything hurt. Her legs, her arms, her neck and back, all ached fiercely, and she cringed at the thought of the walk back to her room. Still she picked up her bag, slinging it over her aching shoulder and took a deep breath ready to start her journey.

"Hermione?"

She turned and smiled up at Neville as he approached her.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I just thought I would walk you back to your room." He blushed slightly and smiled. "I thought you might like the company."

Hermione opened her mouth to refuse but changed her mind. "That would be great."

Neville grinned and grabbed his bag falling into step with her as they left the hall. They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, their bodies adjusting to movement again. Neville seemed relaxed as he wondered beside her.

"It's strange being back, isn't it?" he commented as they passed a portrait that had been added after the war to replace some of those lost.

"It is." Hermione agreed softly. "Nice though. There's a lot of good memories here, even though the bad ones are more recent."

Neville nodded and smiled down at her, he had changed from a boy to a man the night that ended the war. Hermione found she quiet liked the change.

They both paused at a staircase, the entrance to a tower that had been added after the war. It sat right in the centre of Hogwarts.

"Have you been up there yet?" Hermione questioned Neville.

"No." He murmured softly, "Not yet."

Hermione squeezed his shoulder. "When you do, if you want someone to come with you, give me a call ok?"

Neville nodded. "Thanks 'Mione"

She reached up and hugged him, then told him she could walk back from here alone. He understood immediately and left her to it, striding off to Gryffindor tower. Hermione gazed after him before slowly making her way up the steps of the tower. Portraits covered the walls, each one with a bronze plaque underneath, stating the name and deeds of the person in the picture. She walked past the names and faces she didn't know until she reached the first landing. Here were the hero's of the first war. A huge, framed picture was the main feature, containing the happy, young Potters as they played with their young son, Harry. Hermione stroked the picture softly before moving on up the stairs. She stopped more and more to touch or stare at certain pictures, remembering the loss of their occupants.

Some pictures held people who had done great deeds and a picture of Lavender Brown, standing over two young boys caught her eye. Lavender looked poised and ready, wand drawn and face alight with a fierce protectiveness as she guarded the fallen boys at her feet. Another showed Trelawney, crystal balls in hand and rage written in every line of her body. Up she went, until she reached a stained glass window, lit by magic to shine at all times. It portrayed Neville, the Gryffindor sword in his hands, raised above his head as he leaped towards Nagani, a battle cry on his lips and fire in his eyes. Hermione smiled, she loved this one. It showed hope.

Climbing to the top of the tower she paused and leaned in the doorway, watching the moonlight wash across the pictures there. She was about to step forward into the room, when movement caught her eye. She shrank back into the shadows, watching as a figure moved across the room to stand in front of a large picture. Hermione knew that one, she had gazed at it many times. It showed Bellatrix, wand a dark blur as she dulled three opponents, Luna, Ginny and Hermione herself. She knew that all three of them looked beautiful in battle, their eyes alight with fire, wands drawn and bodies arched as they dodged spells. Whoever the painter was had taken some artistic licence, in Hermione's mind. She also knew that the painting next to it. It showed Mrs Weasley as she shot a killing curse for the first and only time in her life. Bellatrix's face was twisted in a cruel laugh, unaware that her death was fast approaching. On the plaque beneath were only two things, their names and the words in bold "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

She turned her attention back to the figure and watched as he reached up a hand to stroke the painting, his eyes, she assumed, were lingering on a face, which one she didn't know. Moonlight rippled across the room, catching on the figures blonde hair and she held back a gasp as she realised who it was. His head came up slowly and he turned to face her, making her shrink deeper into the shadows.

"I know your there." He said smoothly. "Come out."

Hermione stood for a minute before stepping forward. "Malfoy." She acknowledged.

"Granger." He smirked, "Hiding are we? Or were you spying?"

She gave him a withering look, "Why on earth would I want to spy on you Malfoy, it would be an utter waste of time. I already know all your secretes."

Malfoy's mouth twitched. "You think so, do you?" He moved closer backing her up against the doorway she had just left.

"There's things I could tell you that would make you hair lie flat, Granger." He growled pushing her up against the wall, his arms on either side of her.

She raised her chin and glared, refusing to be intimidated. "I don't believe you. You think you're so scary, but you're a big softy." She sneered.

He leaned in closer making her tilt her head back. "I could tell you horror stories of what I've seen, what I've done." His growling voice made shivers run up her spine.

"You're not as big as you think, Malfoy."

He chuckled, surprising Hermione and sending a whiff of alcohol over her face, _he was drunk?_

"Oh trust me Granger. I'm big. Bigger than you can imagine I'm sure." Hermione blushed at the innuendo.

"I could teach you things, show you things you could never imagine. Make you feel better than you ever have before." He leaned and placed his mouth right by her ear, his breath brushing against the pulse that raced in her neck. "I could make you want me, Granger."

That did it, she broke free of whatever trance he had put her in and shoved, sending him stumbling away from her.

"Keep you sick fantasy's to yourself, Malfoy!" She snapped and marched off down the stairs, leaving him to stare at the doorway.

XXXXXX

Hermione was still flustered as she stormed into the common room, refusing to accept that her pulse racing meant anything other than surprise at his actions. She had NOT been scared.

"Granger?" Blaise questioned, eyeing her in something akin to surprise as she threw herself into a chair. "Are you ok? You look. . . Flushed."

Her head snapped up and he was shocked to see turmoil in the depths of her eyes.

"Malfoy is drunk!" she snapped, more harshly than she had intended.

His only change from his normal casual expression was a slight widening of his eyes. "How did you manage to come by that information?"

Hermione glared at him, "I just ran into him on my way back here. He was off his rocker. I expect you to have a serious talk to him, Zabini. He is setting a very bad example."

"Of course. I will talk to him tomorrow morning." He paused, multiple questions on his tongue. "Are you ok? He didn't hurt you did he?" His eyes roamed her body searching for any mark, any sign of mistreatment.

Hermione let out a breath in surprise. "No" she paused. "No I'm fine, he wasn't abusive, just... not in his right mind that's all."

Blaise nodded slowly, eyes still looked on her, contemplating and thoughtful.

"I should go get some sleep." She shifted uncomfortably. "We had a long day, and tomorrow could be worse."

He nodded again and stood as she did, politeness ingrained in him from his upbringing.

"I will walk you to your room." He stated.

Hermione was shocked but too exhausted to refuse, her adrenalin giving way to a bone deep tiredness. She padded slowly up the stairs at his side, eyes on the ground. Blaise opened her door for her but stopped her from going in with a hand on her arm.

"Are you going to report him?"

Hermione blinked in momentary confusion before slowly shaking her head.

"No" she murmured softly. "Everyone has a different way of coping after the war. I'm guessing that is his."

Blaise nodded, taking his hand off her arm.

"Goodnight, Zabini." She murmured, walking into her room.

"Goodnight, Hermione." he replied, turning away.

It was only when she was curled up in bed and almost asleep that she realised he had called her by her first name. It was her last thought before she was swept away into a soft blackness.

**Alright that all for now. More coming soon, I'm on a roll and in a writing vortex right now**

**Wildcat.**


	9. Plans, Pants and Patronuse's

**Ok I'm on a roll here, this is the next chapter. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 8: Plans, Pants and Patronuse's**

Waking up the next morning was torture and Hermione held back a moan of pain as she hauled herself out of bed. Every muscle that was strained yesterday was now stiff and sore, every bruise had doubled in size and pain. She dragged herself into the bathroom and started brushing her teeth, Blaise walked in a few moments later, looking to calm in her mind.

"Granger." He greeted as he grabbed his tooth brush.

She merely nodded, toothpaste clogging her mouth. He finished and left the room, and Hermione took the chance to have a shower. The warm water helped relax her muscles and the feeling of being clean improved her mood. She was smiling by the time she wrapped herself in a towel and stepped back into her room. She wasn't one to worry about her appearance but the bruise that spread over her lower back looked nasty. Flicking her wand she muttered, _Esunae,_ the pain immediately ceased, another flick and a mummer of _Tergeo _caused it to disappear almost completely.

Hermione smiled _'Perfect'. _Pulling her clothes from the chest of draws she dressed casually for the day in jeans, a yellow, long sleeved top and dark red robes. She used a simple spell to dry her hair and another to style it into a French plait. She knew her hair wouldn't sty like that all day, but it was good enough for her.

Gathering her books and bag she swished down the stairs, coming to a sudden halt at the bottom.

"Zabini?" She questioned, eyeing him as he stood at the foot of her stairs.

"Granger. Good morning." His voice was calm and collected, betraying no emotion, as always.

"Good morning." She stepped down the last few stairs onto level ground. "Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you would walk to breakfast with me." His eyes flashed as he looked her over. "I like your cloths today. It's good to see we are both supporting our house."

Hermione glanced first at her clothes, then at his, a smile tugged at her lips. He wore dark jeans, a silver sweatshirt and dark green robes that matched his eyes.

"Well we have to be patriotic." Her mind caught up with his earlier statement. "Did you say you wanted to walk me to breakfast?"

"Yes." He paused for a brief, barely noticeable second as he searched his brain for the reason to his request. "I wanted to get your opinion on a matter that has been brought to my notice."

Hermione smiled politely. "Of course, lead the way."

Blaise smiled and walked across the room to open the portrait for her, closing it after she had stepped through.

"What's the problem?" Hermione questioned as they started the walk to the great hall.

"Well it's a bit of a tricky subject. It's about the Slytherin house current mood."

Hermione blinked in confusion. "What's wrong with it?"

To her shock Blaise chuckled quietly, a brief display of emotion she wasn't use to.

"Well their mood is rather subdued at the least." He explained. "Well no, that's an understatement, it's depressed and vengeful. I think something needs to be done. There are, as I'm sure you noticed, very little new students this year. Our house has become hated and seen as evil. That war has made us down trodden. I want to raise their moral if you like. Raise house unity and, in the long run, maybe promote inter-house unity."

Hermione stayed quiet for a moment, expression thoughtful as she went over that bit of information. Blaise felt dread creep into him.

"You don't agree."

Hermione's head snapped up as she heard dejection creep into Blaise's voice. If she didn't know any better she could have sworn he valued her opinion.

"No, no." She hurried to correct him. "Quite the opposite. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was just trying to think what could be done."

Hope fluttered in Blaise's chest. "Any ideas would be much appreciated."

"I'll tell you what. I'll think on it today and how about we meat up after dinner tonight and go over possible plans." She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She had forgotten who she was talking to, Blaise would surely refuse to work with her.

To her surprise, an unguarded, completely natural looking smile crossed the Head Boy's face.

"That sounds perfect." He murmured in a deeper tone than usual. "Thank you, Hermione. I'm very grateful."

They had reached the hall and Blaise left before she could say anything, walking to his table and leaving her standing in the doorway gazing after him. She pulled herself together and made her way to her own table, sitting amongst her friends as the moaned about their aches and pains from the day before. Hermione laughed as Ron described the bruise on his bottom after hitting the ground repeatedly yesterday.

Ginny sighed in worry. "I have DADA first thing today."

Harry grimaced and scooped her into his lap, "I will mourn your absence for the rest of my life!" He exclaimed dramatically, surprising everyone in the vicinity. "I will wear your handkerchief by my heart and never love another, waiting until I follow you in the next life."

He was cut off as his friends burst into laughter and Ginny hit him over the head.

"I think you should give Ginny a bit more credit." Hermione giggled, "She's too tough to die from a few lessons."

Ginny smiled and ruffled Harry's hair, "Silly."

"Hey!" Harry cried, "You're messing up my hair!"

This brought another round of laughter from the Gryffindors' around him and he winked at Ginny. She just shook her head and kissed him. Hermione knew Ginny loved how much happier Harry had been lately. The war had taken its toll on him and this kind of attitude warmed everyone's hearts. They settled down to eat after that, Ginny remaining in Harry's lap as he feed her off his plate. Hermione ate happily, listening to the occasional laughter from the couple when Harry's fork missed Ginny's mouth.

She was surprised when she felt a hand squeeze her leg and she glanced up at Ron. He waved a sausage at her as it dangled off his fork.

"Want a bite of my sausage, Hermione?" He asked with a dopy grin.

Dean, Seamus and Neville, seated on either side of them all laughed. After a few seconds Hermione joined in, trying not to blush. She knew he was only saying it to tease Harry and Ginny, but the implications stuck in her mind. Still she leaned forward and took a big bite off the end, causing Ron to laugh and Harry and Ginny to roll their eyes. She chewed and swallowed quickly.

"Yum!" she chimed with a grin.

This caused Ginny to groan playfully and Hermione glanced up when Dean slung an arm over her shoulders.

"Taste mine, Hermione! Its way nicer." He held out a sausage of his own. This one somewhat larger than the one Ron had. "Its way bigger too!"

Hermione went bright red, she couldn't help it. Then she laughed as two more sausages appeared in front of her face, brandished by Seamus and Neville. They both started rants about why theirs was better and she giggled happily, leaning easily against Dean when the arm around her shoulders pulled her closer. Suddenly a small hand shot into her line of sight, grabbing Seamus's fork from his hand and retracting again. Everyone looked up in surprise and there stood Luna, munching happily on Seamus's sausage.

"You know you really shouldn't wave them about." She told the boys in between bites. "Someone might think you want them to take it." With that she handed Seamus the half eaten sausage and bounced away leaving the Gryffindor's to double over with bouts of laughter. Seamus sat in a slight daze for a moment before joining in.

As her laughter subsided Hermione happened to glance up at the Slytherin table. A pair of hard silver eyes met hers and she glanced away quickly eyes scanning the table instead, taking in the brooding looks and hostile expressions of the Slytherin house. _'Blaise was right,'_ she thought sadly. _'They do need help.'_

As she watched the other house a few things came to her attention and she placed them in her mind to tell Blaise later that day. Ron brought her out of her thoughts and she turned her attention back to her friends. Not even noticing that Dean's arm was still around her shoulders and Ron was subtly trying to get him to remove it. Finally giving up Ron had decided to trump him and wrapped his arm around Hermione's waste. This is what had caught Hermione's attention and she turned to Ron.

"What's our first class?" He questioned easily, taking a bite of his sausage.

"Double Charms" she answered automatically, with a smile. "That at least should be the same as always."

"I hope so." Dean said wistfully, causing Hermione to laugh and a slight frown to cross Ron's features.

XXXXX

Charms was in fact, the same as the years before, thought the work was slightly harder. Still, Hermione and Harry had partnered together, and after doing the theory in the first period, they were the first to master the new charm in the second period. Ron wasn't far behind, after some help from Neville, his partner for the day.

They had an easy Period in Herbology and then Hermione had Ancient Runes well the boys had a free period. Their second to last class of the day, Potions, went as smoothly as all the others and it was with high spirits that they set of for the last class of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts. They entered the class room cautiously, the other two houses following closely behind. The events of yesterday's class were still fresh in their minds and nobody was letting their guard down any time soon.

Hermione felt a slight brush of air touch her check, and she spun, fist lashing out. Her knuckles hit something solid and the whole class spun to watch at her violent movement. Mr Savage appeared stumbling backwards slightly and holding his jaw. Hermione's wand was drawn and ready, the rest of the class drawing theirs only a beat behind her. The class held its breath as Savage stood straighter, chuckling softly at.

"Well." His eyes glowed brightly, "I think that's the first time I've ever seen someone react with physical violence _before_ magic. But it was effective, admittedly, plus you are a muggle-born aren't you Miss Granger? So maybe I should have expected it."

I growl went through the class and hands tightened on wands.

"So what if she's a muggle-born!" Ron snapped, stepping up beside Hermione.

Savage eyed Ron, his crooked smile not leaving his face. "So sometimes they do the unexpected. In this case, until she was 11 Hermione had no idea there was magic, so naturally, if she was attacked, she would expect to use her fists to escape. It's just interesting to observe that after all this time in the wizarding world, she still reacted with her fists first and wand second."

"Then you obviously don't know her very well." came a snide drawl from the back of the class.

The crowed parted as everyone turned, leaving a clear path between Savage and Draco Malfoy.

"Excuse me?" Savage questioned, as he eyed Draco, smile slowly slipping away.

"I said you obviously don't know her very well. If you find that an interesting observation, then you're out of the loop."

"I happen to be able to safely say that I know Hermione quiet well, Mr Malfoy. Your observations are obviously flawed." His smile came back into play.

Draco smirked. "Not hardly."

Savages eyes narrowed, "Really. Well perhaps you would like to enlighten us, Mr Malfoy, on just where my knowledge is incorrect."

Draco's smirk widened and his eyes flashed, "Gladly."

Everyone watched in silence as Draco strutted towards Savage. There was a moment's pause as he reached the professor, then his fist shot out, heading straight for Hermione's face. She blocked his punch with one arm, throwing her own at him in retaliation, when he caught it she raised her wand, pointing it at his face.

"See." Draco said, dropping has hands and stepping back.

The class stayed silent. Then Harry laughed and everyone turned to look at him.

"He's right." Harry said with a shrug. "Savage really doesn't know Hermione at all."

To the classes confusion this seemed to end things and Savage told everyone to take their seats. No-one seemed to know what had really happened, except for those involved.

"Now that we have all established that Draco Malfoy watches Miss Grangers every move perhaps we can move on with the lesson." Savage smirked as Malfoy's face tinged pink with rage.

"Yesterday was lots of fun, but now I think the class should move on to actually learning something. But before we do I think I need to ask." He didn't react to the disbelieving looks that crossed peoples face. "Is there anyone in the class right now who thinks they shouldn't be here? If so, please feel free to leave now."

There was silence. Then Terry Boot got up, followed closely by Lisa Turpin, both Ravenclaws thanked the Professor before leaving. Savage looked around and when no one else moved he sighed.

"Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you both to leave."

Both girls pouted as they packed up their things and excited the room. The room stayed quiet as Savage gazed around again.

"Seamus Finnegan, Parviti Patel, The both of you can leave too."

Seamus shrugged and got up, clapping Dean and Ron on the shoulders, Parviti shot Lavender a sympathetic look as she walked out, Seamus slung and arm over her shoulder as they left. The class had quickly been whittled down to 13. There was another pause in which Mandy Brokelhurst got up and left.

"Perfect" Savage said gazing around. "Now for today I thought we would start off small and learn the patronus charm. So everyone stand up and gather round."

XXX

And that was how the class began. Savage split them into two groups of six. Hermione's contained Dean, Blaise, Theodore, Draco and Sarah Faucett. All were fine at magic, but she was less than pleased about having the three Slytherin's with her.

Even though her and Dean, plus Harry, Ron, Neville and Lavender in the other group, all knew how to perform the Patronus charm already, they were still told to practise. When Savage was satisfied they knew what they were doing he told them to help the others in their group.

That's how Hermione ended up standing in front of Blaise, Draco and Theodore asking what their happiest memory was.

Silence followed her question.

"Excuse me?" Draco sneered, "You really must know everything mustn't you Granger?"

She rolled her eyes. "To perform the charm you have to have a happy memory, a really strong one. Look."

She concentrated hard, "Expecto Patronum!" Hermione's silver otter burst from her wand, twining around her feet.

The three boys tried not to look impressed.

Hermione sighed, "You don't need to tell me what the memory is. But you have to have one."

The boys all nodded and seemed to be thinking, Hermione waited patiently. Blaise was the first to look up and with a considerable amount of concentration he tried the charm.

"Expecto Patronum!" Silver wisps shot from his wand, twining together before disappearing.

Pushed on by this slight success the other two tried also, both producing wisps. They continued like this for ten minutes, with Hermione adjusting the way they gripped their wands and offering encouragement.

It was only when she got frustrated, with the way that Theo kept holding his wand that it happened. She stepped behind him and reached round to correct his hand, making him flick the wand. Her chest brushed his back and she didn't see the blush that rose into his face as he cried, "Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery form burst from Theodore's wands, flashing round the room before coming to a complete stop in front of the shocked Slytherin. It was a Bear. Everyone turned to stare as the huge Patronus, coming up to Hermione's shoulder in height, nuzzled Theo, the boy held out a hand to pat it but his concentration broke and the bear disappeared. Theo looked back at Hermione who smiled and stepped back.

"Well done." She chirped happily.

He blinked then gave her a radiant smile that made her blush. "Thank you, Hermione."

"You're welcome." She turned to the other two. "Right! Zabini it's your turn, come here."

As Blaise approached and struggled to make the spell do what he wanted, Theo walked back to join Draco who smirked at him and leaned to whisper in his ear.

"So Theo, what was your happy thought." He drawled.

Theo shot him a glare. "None of your business, Draco."

"Really," Draco smirked, "So it had nothing to do with the fact that Granger's boobs were rubbing against your back?"

Theo just rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Draco. We all know you're just jealous."

This rendered the Slytherin princes somewhat speechless, so he just snorted and turned to watch Blaise.

Blaise was having trouble. And not just slight trouble, serious trouble. He could not even think of one happy thought, let alone get this spell to work. His mind wouldn't concentrate, all he could think of was how helpful Hermione was trying to be, bouncing round, adjusting his hand, giving ideas, and forever moving, around and around. He watched as she bounced past and blinked as her chest bounced up and down under her top. He smiled slightly and watched as she did it again. _This could work!_

"Expecto Patronum!"

A patronus burst from his wand and he looked at it in confusion, he raised his eyes to met Hermione's

"What the hell is that!" He broke his refined speech at the sight of his patronuse's form.

Hermione giggled "It's a panther" she exclaimed excitedly. "Oh it's amazing!"

It really was thought Blaise, a huge panther paced at his feet restless and protective. It disappeared soon enough and Hermione turned her attention to Draco.

"Now you, Malfoy." It was a mark of her happiness that she sounded cheerful as she said it.

Malfoy shrugged and walked over to her flicking his wand nonchalantly and tried the spell. Hermione frowned at him and told him to try harder. A few minutes with only wisps being produced cause Hermione to lose her patience.

"Are you even trying to think of something happy!"

"Well what do you suggest, Granger?" he drawled in a bored voice

Hermione glared. "Think of kissing Pansy! Or something!"

Draco looked disgusted, "Do you want to make me vomit?"

"Just do the spell!" Hermione snarled, throwing her arms in the air.

"Expecto Patronum!"

There was a burst of silver light and a dragon flew from Draco's wand. This time a few people gasped. The dragon wasn't exactly life sized but it was big, the same height as Draco himself. Hermione clapped her hands and jumped up and down. This caused both Theo and Blaise to close their eyes, though only a giggling Lavender noticed. Draco's patronus disappeared suddenly and Hermione looked up to see him staring at her with an odd expression on her face.

"What?"

He shook his head slowly, "Nothing. Um... Thanks for the help, Granger."

"You're welcome." All three Slytherin boys blinked as she beamed at them.

Draco turned his back quickly and went to join the others, practicing their patronuse's now that they knew what it was like.

XXX

Savage dismissed them not long after, saying they had put in a lot of good effort, and those that hadn't mastered the charm would be taught again in the next lesson. They all packed up and streamed out of the classroom, Hermione near the back of the group.

"Miss Granger!" Savage called. "Stay behind for a moment please. I would like to talk with you."

Hermione paused in the doorway and glanced over at the Gryffindor's who all stopped and waited.

"Um I'll be there soon guys, you go on ahead."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "You want me to come with you?" He questioned.

"No." Hermione sighed, "I'll be ok. This was bound to happen at some point."

Harry nodded but didn't look happy. Ron frowned.

"I think I'll just wait here." He said and turned to lean against the wall. Hermione smiled.

"Thanks guys."

She slipped back into the room. _Time to face the music._

**And I'm leaving it there. I will not update until I actually get some reviews. Over 100 people have already read the last chapter and I have 1 review. That's just a bit sad guys. As for Starlight, you rock! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Wildcat out.**


	10. Water, wonderings and Wants

**Heya guys. I'm back again. Like I said I'm on a roll, but true to form I'm updating because I finally got some reviews. Thank you so much! It's always great to know what people think. So keep them coming. Even if it's just saying how I can change it so you enjoy it more.**

**Chapter 9: ****Water, Wondering's and Wants**

Hermione walked, back straight and wand held loosely in one hand as she approached Savage's desk at the front of the class.

"Yes Professor?" She did her best to keep her tone polite, as it should be when talking to a teacher.

Savage on the other hand, didn't seem to have the same thoughts, his robe was thrown over his chair and he leaned against his desk wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt. He smiled that strange crooked smile and looked her up and down.

"Now Hermione, there's no need for this Professor business. I think we know each other better than that."

"We are in school, Savage, we must follow the rules. As such, you shell address me as Miss Granger."

His eyes narrowed slightly and he pushed himself of the desk standing straighter.

"Well then Miss Granger. I would like to congratulate you on your success in class today, you really are a very smart witch."

"Thank you Professor," Her tone was clipped as she surveyed him. "Now if that was all I would like to get to my dinner."

She turned to leave but he took hold of her arm gently.

"I wasn't quite finished yet, Miss Granger." Hermione frowned as he purred her name in her ear. "I was wondering if you would like to come to my office after dinner. I would like to discuss other methods of teaching that could be used in the classroom, I thought your views could be helpful."

"I'm afraid I have other plans tonight."

"Surely they aren't that important."

"On contrary they are very important, they are to do with my heads duties and are beneficial to the whole school. So if you would excuse me?" She hadn't meant for that to come out as a question.

"My, we are in a rush. What's wrong, my company not to your satisfaction anymore?" He raised an eyebrow condescendingly.

Hermione scowled. "I only stayed in your company when I had to Savage and you know it. The order only put me with you when they had to. Why Kingsley put you here I don't know, but I mean to talk with him about it!"

"Now now, don't be like that." The words were harmless but his tone was slowly slipping into the harsh scornful sound she was use to. "I just thought you would like some male company tonight. For once in your life." He sneered at her, "I was being nice, thought you would appreciate the first offer."

She smacked him in the face and he stumbled backwards.

"Bitch! What did you do that for?"

"Just leave me the fuck alone Savage! I'm sick of you being a bastard to me whenever you can. I wouldn't stand for it well we were in the order and I won't stand for it now. You can't scare me!"

He snarled some rude words and she glared. "I never understood you, you know that. I mean of all the people you could of picked on why me? What did I ever do to you?"

He just glared and she turned, walking straight out the door.

Harry and Ron were waiting outside and they fell into step with her, making their way to the great hall.

"So?" Harry questioned.

"Same old Savage. I really don't know what his problem is." Hermione sighed.

Harry shrugged. "I still recon he's jealous."

"Of what?"

"You. I mean he was Kingsley's favourite aurour before you came along. He was like Tonks and Mad-eye were. But then you burst in and suddenly Kingsley's spending hours with you, talking to you, training you, asking your advice." Harry shrugged again. "You took his place, and he resents it."

Hermione frowned, "I don't know, I think there's more to it."

"So what are you going to do?" Ron asked.

"I'm going to send a later to Kingsley."

Hermione wrote her later to Kingsley at dinner and decided to send it, and the one she had written to the Weasley twins, as soon as dinner was over. She caught Blaise just as he was exiting the hall.

"Zabini!"

He turned and waited for her to catch up, saying nothing as she looked at him.

"Um. I've got a few errands to run. So I'll be a little while, we can have our meeting as soon as I get back. Is that ok?"

He nodded. "Of course. Whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, see you soon."

She raced off, not noticing his eyes follow her, a thoughtful expression on Blaise's usually blank face.

The walk to the Owlery would have been long and boring but only ten minutes in she got company.

"Hermione! Wait up!"

She turned and watched as Theodore Nott jogged after her giving her a wide grin as he came even.

"Nott, what's wrong?" She surveyed the boy, unsure as to his intentions.

"Nothing." That carefully grin was still in place. "I just wanted to thank you for your help in class today. I couldn't have done it without you."

Hermione felt a flush of pleasure at that. "You're welcome." She gave the boy a genuine grin. "I'm just glad I could help."

He nodded and glanced around. "Where you headed?"

"The Owlery, got some letters to post."

"Oh, cool. Mind if I walk with you?"

"Not at all."

And with that they fell into step, making their way to the tower. At first the conversation was slow, the two trying to adjust to talking to each other. But they soon hit it off with one topic or another and talked all the way back through the castle, Theodore insisting on walking her back to her common room.

"Thank you, Theo." She said as he went to leave. "It was fun talking to you."

He laughed, "And it was great talking to you, next time you have to send a letter look me up." He waved and took off at a jog.

Hermione smiled and shook her head over the boy. He was a strange one, very different to his fellow ex death eater kids. She frowned as she contemplated that. She knew his father was a death eater but from what people had said after the war, Theo himself had never followed the man and had never been initiated into his ranks. She sighed, something to ponder late at night. She pushed the portrait open stepping in and closing it quietly behind her. Glancing up she bit back a gasp of surprise and froze on the spot.

Blaise was in the room. He stood with his back to her, facing the fire and was naked except for the towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet and droplets of water dotted his muscled back and arms. The light caught the water, giving his olive skin a strange glow. She blinked. Realising she had been admiring the Slytherin.

'_Not good. What do I do, I can't just stand here.'_

She glared her throat softly and Blaise whipped around, wand in one hand and his expression a readable look of vulnerability.

"Sorry," Hermione murmured quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Blaise smiled slightly and relaxed walking over to her as she stood by an armchair.

"So are you ready to talk?" His voice was soft, no hint of sarcasm, distain or anything else nasty.

"Um aren't you going to get dressed first?" Hermione felt a blush creep into her checks.

Blaise glanced down at himself and back up to Hermione, quirking an eyebrow. "This state of dress makes you uncomfortable?" He questioned, a hint of laughter to his tone.

"No." Hermione crossed her arms defensively trying not to let her gaze brush over his bare chest. "I just thought you would be more comfortable if you were dry and in clothes."

Blaise took a few steps toward her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "This bothers you doesn't it Granger?" he almost whispered as he drew even with her. "Having me standing next to you half naked and wet really gets to you."

She shivered slightly at his close proximity. "No, Zabini. But there's some things I don't need to see, and you naked is one of them." She rolled her eyes. "What is it with you Slytherin boy's, thinking your God's gift to woman?"

He drew back and smiled in amusement. "Very well. I will go get dressed. Wait here."

With that he left, quickly making his way up his stair case.

"Wait here" Hermione muttered grumpily. "What did he think I was going to do, follow him?"

She slung her bag to the floor and dropped into an armchair, "Idiot." She grumbled.

Zabini returned shortly, dry and dressed in dark pants and a green shirt. Hermione straitened in her seat and nodded to him as he sat down. He smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye and surveyed her.

"So, have you thought about my proposition?" Hermione frowned, agitated at the formal, unemotional way he did everything.

"Yes." She flicked her hair over one shoulder and spun her wand in her fingers. "I watched your house a bit during meals, your right Zabini, they're an awfully depressed bunch of people."

Blaise raise an eyebrow, "Can you really blame them?"

Hermione shrugged, "That's not the point. We aren't here to talk about why you're so depressed, were here to see what we can do about it."

Blaise steeple his fingers leaning in slightly. "Go on."

"You have hope in your house, the younger ones, the first and second years. They are still impressionable, still. . . " She fished for a word and shrugged, "Still human."

A light frown brushed Blaise's forehead but he did not comment.

"All so you and your friends seem to be a symbol of... Not hope but... something to look up too." She shook her head slightly, making her brown curls tumble back over her shoulder. "The younger years still converse, still act happy and innocent. The older years do nothing except when you or one of your friends laughs, makes a joke, or does something noticeable."

Blaise let the pause hang as she stopped talk, mulling over her words. "How does this help?" He finally questioned.

Hermione sighed. "You need to talk to your friends. If you act human the others will follow your lead. Start with the first and second years. Sit next to them at breakfast, talk to them, ask them how schools treating them, if they have any questions. In the common room at night they will be doing homework, ask if they need help. You need to connect with them to influence them, the nicer you are the happier they will be."

Blaise shook his head, "You're talking about Draco, Pansy and Goyle, Granger. How do I get people like that to treat kids well, let alone help them with their homework?"

Hermione scowled. "Start with Theo."

Blaise looked at her in confusion. "Nott? That's a good idea. He's nice enough, pretty happy guy, but he's a loner."

"So, he's what you want. And the Greengrass girls. They can help too."

Hermione watched as Blaise went into deep thought and when he had not said anything for a few moments she got up and went to make herself a cup of tea. She had done her bit, now it was up to him.

XXXXXXX

Going to bed that night Hermione found that even though she was exhausted she couldn't sleep. Things from the day kept running threw her mind. Savage, the patronuses, her conversation with Theo. Slowly she let her mind unfold and relax, slowly taking her off to sleep. The last thought she had as she drifted off was that of Blaise standing to close, droplets of water running over his dark skin.

XXXXXXX

**And I'm leaving it there. Hope I haven't disappointed. Will update soon. **

**Over and Out**

**Wildcat**


	11. Birds, Bodies and Blushes

**Ok here's the next one. I know the last chapter kind of sucked. Just had a bit of an off day I'm afraid, defiantly not up to scratch. I'm hoping this one will redeem me somewhat.**

**Chapter 10: ****Birds, Bodies and Blushes**

Hermione woke up slowly, shaking off a heavy dream as her alarm sounded in her ears. She sighed as the dream slipped out of her reach, the details rushing away like water through her fingers. It left her with a vaguely uncomfortable feeling but nothing else. She shook her head and pushed her hands through her unruly hair, flicking away the last of the dream. Getting up and stretching released the tension in her body and she knew a shower would make her feel more human.

After grabbing her wand from her bedside table and slipping on a bathrobe she opened the door to the bathroom. Her yawn was turned into a gasp and her wand clattered to the floor as her eyes caught sight of the bathrooms occupant. She slapped both hands over her eyes, feeling her face flame red as she spun around.

"Blaise!" Hermione yelped, keeping her hands tight over her eyes.

Her face got even hotter when a deep rumbling laugh echoed through the bathroom, bouncing of the walls. She dared not turn, not wanting to see Blaise in nothing but his birthday suit. She heard the rustle of a towel as Blaise continued to laugh.

"Ok, Granger. You're safe."

Hermione turned, slowly uncovering her eyes and breathing a sigh of relief when she saw a towel wrapped around Blaise's waist. She glared at the boy and bent to sweep up her wand.

"Honestly Zabini! There's such a thing as a lock you know!"

He laughed again, and if it wasn't for the situation it would have been nice to see an emotion coming from the usually blank teenager.

"Well I thought you would have heard the shower going and assume I was still in here Granger. Or maybe you did know. If you wanted to check me out, all you had to do is ask. I don't mind showing you." His hand reached for the towel.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. She glared at the boy. "Please Zabini, get out so I don't throw up. I've seen as much as I can take of your body. Now I want a shower."

He shrugged, "Your loss." He murmured, strutting out the door.

Hermione sighed and locked the door after him, using her wand to close and lock the door leading to her room, just in case.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione rushed into the great hall, slipping into her seat next to Ron. He and Harry looked up as she grabbed toast, knowing she didn't have much time before they would have to leave for class.

"You're late." Ron observed.

"No, really?" Hermione quipped rolling her eyes.

Harry grinned as Ron rolled his eyes back, "Well, what kept you?"

Hermione paused to chew her toast. "I slept in, that's all." She dared not tell her friends that she was late because she waited until Blaise left for breakfast until she came down, hoping to avoid seeing the Slytherin.

"Oh ok." Ron shrugged, seeming to buy this excuse.

Harry on the other hand observed her quietly before smiling. She knew he didn't believe her, but he was happy to let her keep her secrets.

XXXXXX

Hermione knew today was going to be a full on day. After interval she had double Transfiguration, then double Ancient Runes, so she planned to relax as much as possible in the first class of the day, Healing, and do some homework in her free period before interval. Unfortunately life has a way of messing things up, _The best laid plans of mice and men..._

XXXXXXX

Hermione got a shock as she walked into Healing class, Harry and Ron on either side. A small, delicate looking woman sat on the top of the teacher's desk, swing her legs as she eyed the first students to come in. Her pretty face broke into a grin as she spotted Hermione and she launched herself off the desk in a neat swing causing her blue-black hair to sweep back off her face, showing her large blue eyes.

"Hermione!" She exclaimed, her voice, not high pitched as expected but lower and sultry. "It's so good to see you."

Hermione moved forward and embraced the young woman, "Lissa! What are you doing here?"

Lissa pulled back a huge grin lighting her face. "I'm your new teacher! With all the war casualties gone the hospital is over staffed, they asked me to take on the job of healing teacher here. I couldn't refuse, it's such a huge boost to my career!"

She pulled back as more students entered. "Sorry." She murmured quietly, "I have to be all proper and teacher-ish, but we will catch up later ok."

Hermione nodded and moved away to take a seat, Harry and Ron followed turning to question her as soon as they were seated.

"Who's she?" Ron asked.

"Where did you meat?" Was Harry's choice of questioning.

Hermione smiled, "Her names Larissa, she was a healer in St Mungo's, she helped out a lot during the after math of the war. We met when I was sent in, after the err... Manor incident."

Harry and Ron winced, remember the day they took down Lucius Malfoy, dragging him in for questioning and finally sending him to jail for life. Hermione had been in St Mungo's for two weeks afterwards, Harry for one and Ron had almost lost an arm.

They dropped the subject after that, it was still tender to think about things that had taken place during the war.

Once the whole class was present, Lissa clapped her hands. "Right." She barked, surprising the class with her forcefulness. "My name is Larissa Veltina. You may call me Professor, or Miss Veltina. The choice is yours. What I want is for you to separate into the groups Madam Pomfrey put you in last lesson." She surveyed the class, sapphire eyes hard. "Well! Snap to it!"

The class rushed to obey, Hermione grinned, loving the change from happy girl to a hard-bitten healer, she had seen her do it many a time.

Her smile didn't hold when she joined her group, she had forgotten that not only did she have to deal with Blaise, but she had to deal with Draco too. She slipped into a seat in-between Theo and Zack hoping to distance herself from the two Slytherin Kings.

"Hey Hermione." Theo greeted easily.

"Hey Theo," Hermione grinned at him, it was nice to have a Slytherin she didn't have to avoid.

"How was the rest of your night?" Theo turned to give her his attention.

"It was..." She paused, "Challenging." She shrugged and grinned.

Theo laughed, "I'm sure it is, having to deal with Blaise every day."

Hermione was saved from having to comment when Lissa started talking again.

"Today you will start off by talking about one of the most embarrassing things that's happened to you since you got back to school. It's only been two days, so it can't be that bad yet. GO!"

Hermione bit back a groan. The world was out to get her, she just knew it.

Draco leaned back in his chair, tipping it back on two legs. "So," He drawled. "Who wants to start?"

There was silence as he glanced round at the group most looked unconcerned but he noticed a few uncomfortable looks.

"Why don't you start Theo."

Hermione looked with interest as Theo winced and Draco smirked, obviously he knew something the rest didn't.

"Well..." Theo stalled. "Most embarrassing moment so far huh?" He drew it out for a few more minutes, seeming to think on this, "Well I don't know..."

"Get it over with." Draco snapped with a smirk.

Theo rolled his eyes and somehow managed to fight down the blush that threaten to rise in his checks.

"Well, I got a hard on in class the other day. That's kind of embarrassing I guess." This earned a snicker from Zack and an eye roll from Blaise. Daphne just shrugged.

"It happens a lot. " Was her only comment.

"Ok Draco, your turn." Theo shot back at the blonde.

Draco seemed to falter for a moment, and then he shrugged. "I had a dream about flying and fell out of bed last night."

Theo scowled, "That's not embarrassing!"

"It's all I can do, we've only been here two days, give me a break."

Theo shook his head but let it go, turning to listen as Draco gestured for Zack to tell his story.

Zack seemed at a loss, "Um... Nothing embarrassing _has_ happened to me."

"Really?" Daphne questioned silkily, "Nothing at all?"

Zack blushed and looked down, mumbling something they didn't hear.

"Sorry." Draco said with a smirk, "We couldn't hear that."

"I said Holly asked me out." Zack spat at the blonde boy.

"Oh how sweet," Draco cooed. "What did you say Zacky?"

Zack crossed his arms, "That's none of your business, so let's move on. Hermione, what was your embarrassing moment?"

Hermione felt her face flame, but knew there was no getting around it, she had to say it.

"I walked in on Blaise in the shower this morning." She grimaced at the shocked looks and Blaise's face lit with surprise. He obviously had been expecting her to lie.

Daphne giggled, "Oh Merlin, that must have been horrid, what did you do?"

It took Hermione a second to realise the girl was genuine.

"Um I screamed and covered my eyes."

Daphne laughed gleefully. "That's hilarious. I feel so sorry for you."

"What about me?" Blaise questioned smoothly, "I was violated, not her."

Daphne waved a hand in dismissal. "You don't care about people seeing your body. Hermione probably got the shock of her life."

"Well I say that Hermione walking in on me was my embarrassing moment. So that leaves you Daph."

A wide grin stole across the girls pale face, "Well, I woke up in the middle of the night, first night back at school. And I heard this weird moaning sound followed by the scrunch of sheets. Now I figured it was one of the girls, already at it, but there was no other sound other than the one person. So I went to investigate, and there was Pansy, tossing and turning and mumbling things about _her Dracey, _I beat a quick retreat then. I mean geese how embarrassing, she's having dreams about Draco. Yuck."

Draco scowled in protest well everyone else laughed, Blaise only smiling calmly.

"Well that's all of us." Theo said, breaking the silence.

"Everyone done?" Lissa gained the attention of the class again.

The murmurs of ascent were enough for her and she nodded, bouncing to her feet.

"Right the next exercise will be a little bit harder for you. It's all about trust. Each group gets a table, and each member of the group gets to take their turn, falling backwards of the desk and letting two others from the group catch them. Everyone understand?"

There was some stunned nodding, which Lissa took as a yes and she directed each group to a table. Her parting words were a slight comfort. "Anyone who drops the person they are meant to be catching gets three weeks of detention with Professor Trelawney."

Hermione sighed as she surveyed her group, who did she trust to catch her? Answer, none. The group stood and looked at the desk, no one wanting to go first. They all just shuffled their feet and avoid eye contact. Hermione drew a deep breath, she wasn't in Gryffindor for nothing, time to be brave.

"Right." She said climbing onto the desk. "I'll go first, and if you drop me I swear by Merlin I'll curse you do bad you'll be in St Mungo's for the next year. Theo, I want you to catch me." Theo stepped up, an easy smile on his handsome face, he was tall and strong, he was the least likely to drop her.

"Who's the second?" Daphne asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Malfoy."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Why me?" I didn't sound like a complaint, more a question out of confusion.

"Because you've seen what I can do with a wand, you won't drop me."

Draco smirked and went to stand next to Theo, Hermione turned her back to them, only just catching the hurt look that crossed Blaise's face. She would talk to him later. Taking another deep breath, she spread her arms and let herself fall. It felt like hours as she passed through the air, she felt the horrible feeling in her stomach that said the ground was rushing to meet her, she thought that maybe she was wrong, maybe they weren't going to catch her. She tensed, waiting for the impact, there was a slight jolt and she found herself held in strong arms. She opened her eyes, not having realise she had even closed them and gazed up at Theo and Draco as they cradled her in their arms, their grip was firm but not painful and she marvelled at the fact that they had actually caught her.

"Thank you." She half whispered and watched as the boys emotions danced across their faces.

Theo was happy, pleased with being trusted and flushed with slight pleasure at the thanks. Draco's was a mix of confusion and uncertainty. He quickly set her back on her feet and stepped away.

"You're welcome." He murmured, expression closed again.

Daphne went next, getting caught easily by Draco and Blaise. Draco was caught with no fuss by Blaise and Theo. When it was Blaise's turn next he asked that Hermione and Draco catch him. Hermione felt the first tinge of fear, what if she wasn't strong enough? What if she dropped him?

To her shock Draco leaned to whisper in her ear, "Don't worry so much Granger, it's easy. Look, hold my arms here."

He pulled her arms gently, grasping her forearms and she followed suit, wrapping her fingers around his cool, pale skin.

"Now when he drops all you need to do is make sure he lands on our arms, with the both of us we can bear the weight easily, ok?"

"Ok." Hermione whispered with a nod, looking up as Blaise spread his arms.

She watched as he slowly tipped backwards off the desk, she felt Draco guiding her arms into place and she felt a shock go through her body as Blaise landed comfortably in their arms.

He eyed them cool when they placed him back on the ground, "Thank you." He was back to his upright and proper self, and Hermione found that she hated it.

"Don't mention it." Hermione mumbled, turning to watch as Theo and Daphne caught Zack.

Finally it was Theo's turn he grinned widely. "I want Hermione and Daphne to catch me."

This got some raised eyebrows but the two girls stepped up confidently as Theo climbed onto the desk.

"You ready for this?" Daphne ginned as they clasped arms, "He's probably heavy."

Hermione smiled back, "We can do it, we're just as strong as those buffoons."

Daphne laughed and winked, looking up to watch as Theo started to fall. They caught him gently, holding up his weight easily and placing him back on the ground carefully. Daphne turned and raise a hand to Hermione who High-fived her without a seconds thought. They both laughed, then there was a slight pause and shocked looks stole a cross their faces. Hermione cleared her throat uncomfortably and Daphne flicked her hair a blank mask coming down over her expression. They both turned away from each other simultaneously, sitting down away from each other well the rest of the group watched in confusion.

The uncomfortable silence was shattered when Lissa rounded up the class again. This time for the healing side of the class she taught them to wrap bandages by hand, apparently this was sometimes a very useful skill. So Hermione spent the rest of the class in a happier mood, having been paired with Harry, they laughed as the wrapped bandages around random body parts, using the time to just talk the way they use to.

XXXXXXX

Hermione laughed easily with Harry and Ron as they exited the class, they had a free period now, the boys were going back to the Gryffindor tower, having been told by Hermione that they had better get their homework down if they wanted to do the quidditch tryouts that weekend. Hermione was going to the heads room, knowing there would already be complaints from students and messages from teachers to work through. She bade both boys good bye and turned down a corridor that would take her to her rooms.

She was only halfway there when she felt a pricking in her spine, her palms itched and she slipped her wand from her pocket. Someone was following her. She walked a few more paces when a hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning her and slamming her into the wall, though not too hard. An icy hand locked around her wrist, pointing her wand away before she could get off a spell, her other arm was trapped between her and her attacker, her body pinned by his.

"Malfoy." She hissed angrily, "what the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up, Granger." His eyes blazed with annoyance. "I want to know something."

"You know, people are more likely to answer your questions if just ask the nicely, not jump them in a dark corridor." She sounded brave, but inside she didn't feel so good, she was trapped, her captor was bigger and stronger, two defiant advantages in hand-to-hand combat.

"I said shut up!" He said it almost in a whisper but the exclamation was still there.

"You want me to shut up, but you want me to answer a question, one cannot happen at the same time as the other, so which do you- mphm!" Hermione was cut off as Malfoys lips crashed onto hers.

Her mind blanked, she had absolutely no idea what to do or what this meant. Finally some hidden instinct came to life in her, her knee jerked up and the kiss was broken as Draco collapsed with a cry of pain. Hermione ran. She ran and didn't look back, racing with a pounding heart all the way to the common room, throwing herself through the door and collapsing onto her knees, breathing heavily.

Back in the dark corridor Draco huddled on the ground, letting the waves of pain wash though him until he could stand again. He wiped his mouth and gazed down the passage where Hermione has gone.

"Well," he mumbled, "She doesn't like me, so why did she do it then?" He shook his head and stumbled off, not noticing a human shaped shadow in the doorway near him.

XXXXXX

Hermione had regained her composure and started work on her heads duties almost immediately, she would think about Draco's strange behaviour when she had the time. She was assuming for now that he was either under a spell or had lost a bet, either way it wasn't worth worrying about.

When Blaise walked in a few minutes later, she was sitting at a desk, legs propped up on its surface as she leaned her chair back on two legs. She was deep in thought well reading over a proposition from a teacher, her robes (plain black today) were thrown over a nearby armchair and a cup of herbal tea sat next to her. Blaise smirked as he tiptoed up behind the girl, she was so engrossed she hadn't even realised he had come in.

"Granger!" he exclaimed when he stood behind her.

There was a yelp, a crash and parchment flew into the air as Hermione landed on the ground, having fallen backwards off the chair. Blaise laughed as the flustered girl scrambled to her feet, quickly gathering up her parchment, face looking like a storm.

"Zabini!" She scolded as she scoped up the parchment, "What the hell where you thinking. Did you have to do it just then, I had a great idea and you just knocked it clean from my mind. . ."

Her rambling went on as she gathered up the last of the papers, trying to sort them into order well telling off the still laughing head boy. Slowly her scolding's died out as she looked at him, an unclear expression on her face.

He immediately stopped laughing, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?" he questioned.

Hermione shook her head to clear it. "You should laugh more often." She told the Italian as she picked up her chair, settling back into it. "It makes you look far more human, handsome even. It suits you."

This rendered Blaise temporarily speechless. "Err.. . " He cleared his throat. "Thank you." He murmured formally. "It is nice to receive a compliment from one who does not often give them."

Hermione's browed creased with a frown, but she did not comment as she turned back to her work.

Blaise felt alarm rock through him, _what had he done wrong now?_

"I'm very sorry," he cautiously approached her chair, "Have I said something that offended you?"

"Don't be silly." She said, flicking her hand at him.

He wasn't going to let it go that easily and he caught her wrist gently. "Something I just said made you unhappy. I would be much obliged if you would concur to tell me what it was."

There it was again, that slight marring of her features. "It's nothing Zabini, but I could use your opinion on this."

She raised a piece of parchment for him to read and he took it, distracting him from his questioning.

They worked together on their heads duties for most of the period, dealing with the amount of stuff that had already been loaded onto them. It was only when most of the work was done that he chose to bring up a non-work related subject again.

"Granger. I do have a question that I sincerely hope you will answer."

She eyed him carefully, "I will do my best. What's up?"

He shifted in his seat slightly, "In class today, you chose Draco and Theo to catch you. I understand if you trust Theo more than me, he was of course, never a Death Eater. But I thought for sure that I would be more trusted than the rest of the group, especially more than Draco." He tried not to let his voice become whiney though he wasn't sure if he had succeeded.

Hermione looked vaguely surprised, "I thought you would have realised, it was a trust building exercise. I would have trusted you and Theo to catch me, but that would have made the exercise null. Malfoy was obviously the person I trusted the least, and Theo the one I trusted the most besides you. I chose them both, to display trust in Theo and try to induce trust in Malfoy."

Blaise considered this. "I see. Thank you for answering truthfully."

"You're Welcome."

Blaise felt another pull of annoyance as that frown tugged at her brow again. He could not understand what he said that annoyed her, and why it was only sometimes. He was about to ask again when two things happened. The first was the sound of arguing becoming clear outside the room, the second was the portrait door bursting open, revealing an annoyed looking Draco and a slightly confused Theo, who had a tawny owl perched on one arm. Things got more confusing when the bird burst into the air, hitting Draco and Theo with its wings as it flew directly at Hermione landing on her arm. Another owl chose that time to blast threw the window to the room, flicking rain everywhere as it to flew to land on Hermione's other arm, hitting Blaise in the nose on the way past.

Cussing filled the air and Hermione tried not to laugh as Draco held a red check, Theo dabbed at his split lip and Blaise felt his nose tenderly, eyes watering. Other than illegible swear words, the only thing she heard was the snarl of _'Bloody Bird!' _from all three boys. She turned to set the birds on her desk, effectively hiding her smile from the annoyed males. The pretty tawny cooed and rubbed against her hand affectionately, well the eagle owl, stood aloofly, eyeing the witch he had been sent too.

"Hello April." Hermione murmured to the tawny as she rubbed its head. She reached into her bag and drew out two owl treats, she always kept them handy now, wanting to reward the birds that brought her news and letters.

April, whose real name was April Fool's, belonged to the Weasley twins, well the eagle owl had a letter with the Minister's seal on it. She removed the packages from the owls, and they both left out the window into the pouring rain. She eyed the letters left behind with interest, the one from the Weasley twins was _huge_, almost the size of a small book, well the one from Kingsley was thin, probably containing only one piece of parchment.

"Some one send you a book, Granger?" asked Malfoy with a smirk.

"Maybe." She murmured absentmindedly, thinking of Charlie, but knowing he wouldn't have written this much in only a few days.

This caused a look of shock to cross Draco's face and Theo sniggered. They all watched with interest as Hermione slipped both letters into her bag, choosing not to open then in front of three Slytherin's.

She turned to look at them instead, "What did you two want?" she questioned, eyeing Draco with distaste and mistrust.

Draco raised an eyebrow condescendingly, "Who ever said I was here to see you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "The fact that I heard you yelling at Theo saying you would bring me the bird and he could just go away."

Theo sniggered again and Draco scowled. "I meant I was coming here to talk to Blaise so he might as well go because I could easily bring you the owl since I was already coming here."

Hermione looked at him disbelievingly, "Of course you did." She murmured.

Blaise looked at Draco with interest. "What did you wish to discuss with me?"

"Quidditch tryouts," Draco answered immediately, making Hermione wonder if he had actually been telling the truth. "I wanted to organise them for Sunday, Potter got Saturday and the Ravenclaw's already took Friday afternoon."

Blaise nodded and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, immediately starting to help Draco plan. Hermione turned to Theo who had walked closer to her, when the portrait door burst open again. In stumbled Harry and Ron, they froze when they saw the occupants of the room and tension grew suddenly.

"This looks cosy," Ron observed raising an eyebrow.

Hermione had to admit it probably looked odd. She was perched on the arm of a couch, well Draco and Blaise sat near her, a piece of parchment between them, Theo stood leaning on the back of the couch near Hermione, obviously having been about to say something. To make things look more strange, Hermione's and Blaise's robes and sweatshirts were discarded around them room, due to the fire roaring nearby.

Draco stood, snatching up the parchment, Blaise followed immediately, leading the way silently up to his room. Hermione watched them go, her eyes narrowed. She turned her attention back to her friends and noticed that they were eyeing Theo wearily.

She smiled slightly. "Guys, you know Theo." She gestured casually

They both nodded, Ron seaming to struggle with being polite, Theo grinned back at them, completely at ease, or so it seemed.

"Anyway Hermione," Theo said, as though carrying on a conversation, "That bird somehow found its way to the Slytherin corridor, must have took a wrong turn, when it was looking for you, I found it and decided to bring it here for you."

"Thanks Theo," Hermione smiled. "Did you want to hang out for a while?"

"Na, I'd better go, got some stuff to do. I'll see you later though." He hugged her with one arm before walking past Harry and Ron and out the door.

Hermione got the feeling he had wanted to talk to her, but didn't want an audience. She made a mental note to catch up with him later.

XXXXXX

Double transfiguration, then double Ancient Runes took a lot out of Hermione, not only were they tough and demanding subject but she had more homework loaded on by both teachers. She made her way to dinner, slipping into a seat between Dean and Neville, thinking that she was only three days in and she was already feeling the strain. Dean took one look at her worn face and started heaping up a plate of food for her, Neville poured her a cup of steaming tea and Harry leaned over to add two sugars, knowing she got shaky when her sugar levels got low.

Hermione felt immense gratitude at having understanding friends, she didn't know what she would do without them. "Thanks." She sighed as they set it in front of her, Ron handing her a knife and fork.

They all shrugged it off, letting her eat as they continued their conversation about quidditch tryouts. The pressure for a good team was the same, if not worse as it had been in the last few years. Harry, as quidditch captain was holding tryouts for every position, including Seeker, saying you just never know when you might need a backup.

Hermione excused herself when she was finished with her food, saying she really needed to make a start on her homework. They all wished her goodnight and watched as she trooped out of the hall. No one noticed Theodor Nott slip out of his seat to follow her. Or an annoyed looking Draco frown and rush to follow Nott. Hermione was in for a rough night, and she was completely clueless. From his seat at the Slytherin table, Blaise looked up and watched the three leave, one after the other. He sighed, sipped back the last of his tea and got up, excusing himself before leaving to save Hermione Granger from her impending doom. '_All in a day's work'_ he thought to himself with a small smile.

**And I'm leaving it there *Slytherin smirk* hope that was better than the last.**

**Enjoy, until next time.**


	12. Bed, Bath and Beyond

**Ok next chapter, be happy with the updating now because I'm moving to start work at a stud farm soon so the chapters won't be as quick to make it out of me when I'm working a 6 to 8 job. Or even longer hours.**

**Chapter 11: Bed, Bath and Beyond**

Draco rushed from the hall, making no sound in his soft shoes. He had brought them specifically for sneaking around and it was time to put them to use. He leaped from shadow to shadow as he tailed Nott, waiting for the opportune moment to arise. Nott it seemed had the same idea in mind, he tailed Hermione closely but made no advances. Draco scowled at the boy, _what was his game with Granger? Was he looking to hurt her or befriend her? Maybe even romance her._ Draco paused and shook his head, holding back an un-amused laugh, no, this was _Theodore_ we were talking about. Son of a death eater and Slytherin heartthrob, Theo would never want a Gryffindor muggle-born.

Draco glanced up to see Theo round a corner and glided after him. He peeked after his quarry and watched him look around in confusion. Granger was no-where in site. Draco smirked and shot forward, sending a silent _Petrificus Totalus _in to his back. He watched in satisfaction as the boy fell, landing with a thud, face-up on the cold stone floor.

"You lose." Draco whispered as he slinked past the fallen Slytherin, ducking through a tapestry into a passage he knew Granger would of taken.

She was close, closer than before and now it was just him and her. He held back a laugh of delight. The thrill of the chase was singing in his blood.

XXXXXXX

Blaise raced up the passage on silent feet. A spell indicated to him the direction Hermione had taken. He knew it was an invasion of privacy, to have a tracking spell on her, but with Draco and Theo after her, he had to be able to find her at any given time. It was for her safety after all. He frowned as he ran, knowing the other two had precious minutes lead on him. He took the fact that Hermione was still moving as an indication that he still had time before one or both struck and he picked up the pace.

He only just managed to avoid tripping over Theo, seeing the outline of his house-mate just in time to dodge out of the way. He paused, debating whether to release him, but decided he would deal with it later, Draco was still up and moving. He pushed past the tapestry mumbling a soft '_sorry_' to Theo as he left. He could hear Hermione now, her soft humming as she obliviously made her way back to the common room. He rounded a corner at a flying pace, feet slipping out from under him. There he saw Hermione, half way along the corridor, and Draco, only a few paces behind, wand drawn and ready to pounce. He lunged forward, hoping he would reach her in time.

XXXXXXX

Hermione was tired, she was sore and she was not in the mood for the long, cold walk back to her dorm. To top it all off, she had that watched feeling, the one that told you that someone was watching you, following you, but regular glances over her shoulder showed her only the empty corridor. She kept her wand in hand, hoping that she didn't have to use it tonight. The war had made her jumpy, and she hopped it was just nerves that made her uncomfortable now. Still she couldn't help but jump and spin around when she heard a small thump as she walked though a passage behind a tapestry. But the light of her wand revealed an empty passage and she hurried on, out into a wider, well lit corridor. She sighed as she moved on, determined to ignore the prickling on the back of her neck.

A sudden flash of light blinded her and a yell of "GOT YA" was heard over the sudden loud explosions.

Hermione ducked low, setting up a shield around her immediately, dashing sideways as she blinked the spots from her eyes. She watched as two bodies wrestled, spells flying in all directions as they tussled. She fired a quick stun into their mix and watched in horror as it collided with the haze of spells surrounding the two figures. The backlash exploded outwards, throwing Hermione back and sending her crashing into the wall. She struggled to get to her feet, only to be floored by another spell, this one took the breath from her lungs and she watched darkness creep into her vision. The two fighters struggled on and as she slipped into blackness she hoped that her defender was the one to come out on top.

XXXXXXX

Hermione groaned as she came to, pain splitting her head as she blinked in the to-bright light. She slapped a hand over her eyes and rolled, trying to snuggle back into the warmth of her bed. Her body collided with something warm and hard. She made a sound of surprise and snuggled into the comfortable body next to her. Her confused brain told her this must be either Ron or Harry even as her mind started calculating that the physique, smell and overall feel of the body didn't connect with those of her two best friends. She breathed in the strange smell of this unknown person and hummed in confusion. Leather, wood polish and a strange citrus smell made little sense to her confused brain and she couldn't think who would smell that way. She heard a snort of amusement from somewhere above her and tensed.

"Smell something you like, Granger?"

Hermione sat bolt upright. She was satisfied to hear Malfoy cry out as he fell of the bed. She blinked around in confusion. She was fully dressed, still in her robes, the only thing missing were her shoes. Her wand lay in reach and she grabbed it immediately as Malfoy pulled himself to his feet shooting her a glare. She raised a hand to her throbbing head and frowned.

"What happened?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

Hermione scowled at him. "I remember walking down the corridor. I remember an explosion happening behind me, I remember being slammed into a wall and passing out. But I don't know what happened or why."

A smile stole over Draco's features and he opened his mouth, no doubt to spin a wonderful web of silken lies. He was interrupted by Hermione's door being pushed open and Blaise stepped through, supporting a stiff Theodore.

"Don't listen to a word he says." Theo snarled grumpily.

Hermione's eye brows shot up as Theo started mumbling under his breath, complaining about _"Backstabbers and Death Eater wannabe's."_ Blaise smiled slightly as he helped Theo to sit at the end of Hermione's bed, he them handed Hermione a small vile, filled with a red liquid. Hermione pulled herself up to lean against the head board, wondering how she had found herself, once again, in the company of these three, very different Slytherin's. She hoped it wasn't going to become a regular occurrence, she didn't think her frayed nerves could handle it.

"Drink that." Blaise said, pointing at the potion in her hand. "It will stop your head from hurting. I checked that you have no concussion."

"Thanks." Hermione murmured, she shrugged and drank the liquid, trying not to show the immediate relief from the pounding in her head. Instead she eyed the three boys closely wondering who was going to explain first.

Draco again tried to talk but was cut off a second time by Theo.

"Don't listen to him Hermione, he's a lying prick, he attacked me from behind and then went after you!"

"What!" Hermione's eyes widened in shock, this seemed a bit much, since when did Slytherin's attack their own, and Draco had been very well behaved since the war.

Draco to his credit looked appalled. "I did not go after her! I just wanted to ask her a question!"

"Then why did you jinx me!" Theo was a placid person, so it shocked Hermione to see him getting riled up.

"I just wanted to talk to her alone!" A twinge of suspicion wound its way into her gut, the last time he had wanted to 'ask her a question', things hadn't gone so well.

Theo cocked an eyebrow. "So you couldn't just ask me if I could leave you alone so you could talk."

"Would you have left me alone to talk to her?"

"NO!" A red flush lit Theo's checks. "I'm never leaving her alone with you ever again! Not after this!"

Draco opened his mouth to retort.

"That's enough!" Hermione snapped, and both boys fell silent, turning to eye her in surprise. "Blaise, I think it would be best of you explained. An un bias point of view is always the best."

Theo scowled but shimmied up the bed to sit next to Hermione, Draco threw himself into a seat, folding his arms and looking hostile. Hermione bit back a sigh, same old Malfoy. Blaise leaned against the bed post and flicked his long hair from his eyes. He seemed largely unconcerned with this whole thing, but Hermione knew he would tell the truth, his upbringing demanded so.

"I saw you get up from the table at dinner." He stated abruptly, eyes on Hermione. "I noticed only because it caused something of a stir among you're house mates, though I'm sure most just assumed you were going to the library, as per normal." Hermione's lips twitched in a semi-smile. "When Theodore stood up directly after you and followed you out of the hall, I thought nothing of it. You are the head girl and it is highly possible he just had a question up classes or homework. I was not alarmed at all. That is until Draco saw Theodore go after you and left to, in something of a hurry, with his wand out. This, I knew, was not his normal behaviour and could be classified as dangerous looking. I took it upon myself to follow you, just to make sure you where not in any danger."

He paused here and Hermione glanced to see Theo looking resigned and Draco pouting sulkily in his chair, he knew it looked bad for him so far, and was only going to get worse.

"It was only when I came across Theo, flat on his back in the middle of the corridor, that I knew something was truly amiss. I moved as quickly as I could, and rounded the corner to see Draco right behind you, wand drawn. I reacted instantly. I blinded him, and thus you as well, and then tackled him to the ground, hopping to get him away from you. In the resulting fight, you were knocked out. After we saw we stopped fighting, picked you up and took you to here. We picked Theo up along the way."

Hermione took it all in, slipping off the bed to pace the floor. Her mind told her to take one thing at a time, though right now all she wanted to do was drag Draco to the heads office and get him kicked out of school, or better yet, send him to Kingsley. But that, she knew, was unfair, he hadn't technically done anything wrong.

She turned instead to Theo. "Why were you following me?"

Theo blinked in surprise, not having realised his motives would be questioned. "I wanted to talk to you about the homework we were set in Ancient Runes. It's bloody hard, I thought you could help me get my head around it, or at least offer a few suggestions."

Hermione stopped pacing long enough to smile at him. "You could have just come here when you had finished your dinner, I'm always happy to help, and don't worry about talking to me around my friends, you can come over to the Gryffindor table whenever you feel the need."

Theo nodded, feeling slightly silly and not wanting to admit that he had wanted the chance to talk with her again, alone.

Hermione's eyes hardened as she turned to Draco, she tried to keep an open mind about his intentions, but she could see no other reasons for his actions, she was sure he had meant her harm.

"I just wanted to ask you a question!" Draco blurted it out before she had a chance to ask. "Come on Granger! You know me! Why would a hurt you, in the middle of school, surrounded by war hero's all of who care about you!" His eyes locked on hers. "I'm not stupid, Granger, you know that. You know I would have no chance of getting away with it, plus I've already told you that I don't want to hurt you! I just knew Theo would never let me have a second to talk to you alone."

There was a bang from downstairs and all four spun to eye Hermione's door, ears pricked for more noise.

"_Hermione?"_

She relaxed as Harry's voice wafted up the stairs accompanied by foot falls. Draco and Blaise exchanged a look and shot off into the bathroom, continuing through to Blaise's room. Theo stayed where he was, figuring he didn't seem to out of place. He pulled Hermione's Ancient Runes book from her bag, just in case. Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed, making sure the bruise on her head didn't show too much. A knock sounded on the door.

"Hermione? Can I come in?"

"Sure Harry." Hermione summoned a smile as the door was pushed in ward, revealing a smiling Harry. His smile dimmed slightly when he saw Theo.

"Nott." He acknowledged cautiously.

The tall boy grinned and stretched out his long legs, "Hey Harry." He grinned, hazel eyes twinkling. "How's it going man?"

Harry shrugged, giving the brunet a small smile of his own. "Not bad, bit shocked about all the homework we're getting but-" He shrugged again and Theo laughed.

"I hear you." He held up the Ancient Runes book. "That's why I'm here, hoping Miss Knowledge has some sort of insight." He smiled at Hermione, who laughed.

"I'll tell you what Theo, why don't I meat you in the Library at lunch tomorrow. We can do this then if you like." Hermione held back a blush as Theo winked at her. He wasn't silly, he knew she wanted to talk to Harry alone.

"Sure thing, love." The endearment rolled easily off his tongue as he stood and stretched. "I'll see you Tomorrow." He ruffled her hair as he strode past. "Later Harry!"

"Bye." Harry said, slightly baffled, but not wanting to be too rude. He waited until he heard the door downstairs close before he turned to Hermione. "He's strange."

Hermione laughed, "Yes, but he means well."

Harry shrugged but smiled, he couldn't deny that the boy was extremely un-Slytherin like.

"So what's up Harry?" Hermione flopped down on her bed and surveyed her best friend.

He dropped next to her. "Wanted to know if you had heard back from Kingsley yet? Or the twins for that matter."

"OH!" Hermione dived off the bed and grabbed her bag. "I forgot." She pulled out the two letters, tearing open the one from the twins first. A hunk of parchment fell into her lap. And she thought for a moment that the two boys really had sent her a book.

A second glance showed her the words 'Classified' in red, across the top of the page.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "What have those two done now?"

"They got me files..." Hermione's eyes travelled over the two folders in front of her, "They got me Blaise's and Theo's files. It's got their class, their part in the war, their alliances, their plans for the feature, it's got their whole life story in here."

Harry shimmied closer and watched as she skimmed the parchment. "What are you going to do with it?"

Hermione shrugged, "I'll read it over later, not all of it, just the important stuff. I need to know if I can trust them, or if they are simply rogue Death Eaters."

Harry nodded and turned his attention to Kinglsey's letter. He handed it to the girl and watched as she read it, her eyes narrowed and a frown appeared. She passed it to Harry once she was done. Harry scowled as he read. Most of it was legal bullshit and polite wording. In the end it came down to Savage, either Hermione could suck it up, or leave the school. Savage was were Kingsley wanted him and he seemed to think Hermione was well enough equipped to deal with the man, and learn from him at the same time.

Harry threw the letter down and cussed loudly, calling the Minister a few choice words, hopping he could somehow hear him.

Hermione smiled and patted his hand, "It's ok, he's right, the Ministry is still trying to get order, and he needs Savage here. I'll just have to live with it."

Harry wasn't happy, but she turned his mind to other matters, reading Fred and Georges Letter with him and laughing over all the things they had already done to Charlie. They spent the rest of their time doing homework, well still managing to talk about anything that came to mind. Hermione missed being in the tower, where Harry was always just a few steps away. He left after a while, promising to be around more often over the next few days.

She sighed as he left and pecked into Blaise's room. The head boy was alone, doing homework.

"Yes?" he questioned as she entered, "Can I help you?"

"I was just going to take a bath. I wondered if you wanted the bathroom first."

He waved her off, "No, thank you. Enjoy your bath."

Hermione ducked out quickly and, after locking both doors, she ran a deep, perfumed bath, slipping in and sighing as her sore head relaxed.

XXXXXXXXX

Blaise stretched and placed his book by his side, glancing at his watch he blinked in surprise. He had been reading for longer than he though, he really should be going to sleep. But he hadn't brushed his teeth yet and as far as he knew Hermione was still in the bathroom.

'_Hermione'_ His eyes snapped back to his watch in alarm. Three hours was far too long to be in the bath. He got up and knocked carefully on the door.

"Hermione?"

No answer.

He knocked harder "Hermione!"

Still no answer. He shrugged and unlocked the door swiftly, bursting into the room and rushing over to the tub. Hermione lay, completely asleep, under a sea of bubbles, the water rolling around her chin. Blaise paused as he gazed at the peaceful girl, he let a grin wash across his face, _'silly kid'_ he thought to himself. Leaning over slightly he grasped her shoulder, intending to shake her until she woke up.

Somewhere in between the time his fingers made contact with her soft shoulder and the next series of events he realised it was a bad idea to wake a war hero. But by then it was too late. Hermione came up hissing, hands grasping his arms and flipping him straight into the bath. Blaise was a war hero too, but he knew his attacker was only Hermione, Hermione didn't have that insight. She seized her wand from the rim of the bath, using one arm to pin Blaise against the side. It was only when she saw his face, completely relaxed and un threatening well she towered over him, dripping suds and water from her bare skin, that she registered who he was. She paused for a second in surprise, wondering what was going on. A split second later she seemed to realise she was standing in a bath, with nothing on, well a fully clothed Blaise stared at her, to close for comfort.

She yelped suddenly, leaping from the bath and grabbing a huge towel to wrap around herself. Lucky for her, the sudden release of her grip made Blaise slip under water, meaning he didn't see her naked body as she exited the bath. He came up spitting, whipping bubbles from his face.

"Blaise! What the hell are you doing?" Her face turned a lovely shade of pink, embarrassment flooding her veins. "You knew I was in here! I told you so!"

Blaise stepped calmly from the bath waving his wand to dry himself immediately "It's been three hours."

His calm tone made her nearly explode. "I DON'T CARE IF IT'S BEEN THREE HOURS I JUST-" her voice hitched suddenly, "Three hours?" It came out as a squeak.

Blaise eyed her coolly. "Yes, you have been in here for three hours. You recently hit your head, I was concerned for your safety."

Hermione took a few deep, calming breaths, well checking to make sure she was fully covered. Finally composing herself she looked up. "Thank you." It came out slightly gritty, and Hermione was shocked at how hard it was to say.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome."

She nodded and murmured softly "The bathrooms all yours." She turned to quickly leave the room but not before she caught his parting remark.

"Nice curves, Granger."

Her face flamed and she slammed the door on Blaise's velvet laughter.

XXXXXXXXX

Dry and tucked up in bed a few minutes later, Hermione tried to put the awkward incident from her mind. She needed sleep and she wouldn't get it if she obsessed about the fact that Blaise had now seen her naked. In retrospect, they were even now. Yes that's how she was going to see this, they had now both seen each other naked and now they could forget it and go to sleep, never to talk or think about it. Hermione sighed as she flicked her wand and the light went off, she tucked the strip of wood under her pillow and focused on clearing her mind. She really did need sleep.

Next door Blaise lay down in his bed, pulling the blankets over himself and casting a quick heat charm on them, it was a cold night and he slept nude. There was no need to freeze just because he found sleeping with clothes on uncomfortable. He sighed as he tried to relax. His mind seemed incapable of switching off and it overflowed with thoughts. One by one he analysed and passed off the thoughts, slowly emptying his mind. Finally a thought got stuck, one he really wished would just leave. But try as he might he couldn't get the feel of Hermione's delicate shoulder or the sight of her naked body from his mind. He growled grumpily trying not to visualise her wet hair, twined around her neck and shoulders in intricate swirls. Or her delicate neck, giving way to soft rounded breasts, not large but full and plump, that would fit nicely in your palm. He tried not to see the bubbles slipping down her soft skin, between her breasts, down her body to her navel- _'Shit'_

'_That's it, I have to stop. Stop thinking Blaise just think about um... Slytherin! Yes green and silver, Malfoy, um Nott and Goyle. And Pansy! Ugly pansy, with her pug face and horrid bob cut and tight clothes, that show absolutely no curves, so unlike Hermione who's all soft and rounded, with a trim waist and-"_

Blaise sighed and gave up. It was going to be a long and uncomfortable night all thanks to that pesky bookworm.

XXXXXX

**And that's all for now folks, more coming soon so stay tuned.**

**Wildcat**


	13. Confusion in its essence

**A.N. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long but I have a full time job now, and most of my spare time will be spent studying, sleeping and moping because I won't be able to see my boyfriend. As of now, my writing may get a bit depressing, due to my mood. Just a warning Haha.**

**Chapter 12:**

Hermione was having a very tough day. Tougher than she had thought it was going to be, and she was under the assumption that she would come dread Thursdays for the rest of the school year. Double Herbology, while not too difficult, was strenuous and consumed her much needed energy. It was followed by Transfiguration, which was quickly becoming more complex than she had ever imagined, and Charms, that strained her concentration to its limit. She knew that others must be suffering even more than her, as their hard work bore little fruit and homework was piled on for each failed spell or charm.

She all but dropped into her seat at the Gryffindor table for lunch, grabbing the first thing she saw and wolfed it down in a few bites. Ron nodded at her, also to busy eating to talk, but Harry gave her an odd look and cocked his head to the side, obviously wondering if he should say what was on his mind.

"What's up, Harry?" Hermione questioned between bites.

"Well, not to interrupt what I'm sure is a very nutritious meal." Harry laughed, glancing at the sausage in Hermione's hand. "But aren't you meant to be in the library?"

Hermione's chocolate eyes widened and she dropped the sausage. "Merlin's Pants!" She exclaimed, jumping up and rushing from the room with her bag flapping behind her.

Dean frowned from the place next to where Hermione had just been sitting. "What did you do that for?" he snipped.

"What?"Harry asked confused. "She was gonna be late."

Dean shook his head, "You could have told her after she had had something to eat. She'll get sick if she's like that all year."

Harry just shrugged. "She'll be fine. This is Hermione were talking about. She eats enough usually, one skipped meal won't hurt her."

"Yeah Dean," Ron piped up. "Worry about someone else, she's our friend, we can take care of her just fine."

"Whatever." Dean mumbled. He picked up a plate and proceeded to pile it high with food. Then he got up and left, leaving the Gryffindor's to stare after him in surprise.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione rushed into the Library as quickly as her legs would take her, sliding to a stop in front of the table Theo had claimed.

"I'm so sorry I'm late" she gasped as she caught her breath.

Theo chuckled softly as he took in her ragged appearance. "It's ok, take a minute to settle yourself. You didn't have to run you know. I wouldn't have minded if you were a bit late."

Hermione smiled as she slipped into the chair next to him. "Sorry, I just got caught up. Have you been waiting long?"

He shook his head, flicking his brown hair into his eyes, and smiled. "Na, just a few minutes. No harm done."

She sighed in relief. "That's good." She pulled out her Runes book and flicked a few pages, reaching their last lesson. "So, tell me, what exactly did you need help with?"

They launched into it immediately, only to be interrupted a few minutes later when someone tapped Hermione on the shoulder, making her jump and glance up quickly.

"Dean!" She gasped in surprise. "You gave me a fright."

He grinned crookedly at her. "Sorry 'Mione, didn't mean to, I just thought you might want this. You left in a bit of a rush and I noticed you didn't really get time to eat anything." He held out a plate full of food, grinning as her stomach growled in response.

"You're amazing." Hermione gushed as she took the plate.

"You didn't eat before you came?" Theo scolded lightly, "Silly girl, I could have waited you know."

Hermione shrugged, already cutting up a piece of bacon and egg pie. "I didn't really think. Did you want some?" The second bit was directed at Dean who shook his head.

"Na, I've already eaten." He shrugged easily.

"Well did you need help with Ancient Runes? We're just going over it now."

To Hermione's surprise he nodded, "Actually that would be great."

Hermione waved her hand at the chair next to her, motioning for him to sit. She failed to see the annoyed look on Theo's face, or the mischievous grin that lit up Dean's eyes. They fell straight to work, with Hermione eating between explanations. Theo's mood got worse as they went along, well Dean's got more and more happy, though they both hid it from Hermione rather well. They worked through the lunch time and only packed up when they had to head to potions.

XXXXXXX

Hermione walked out of Ancient Runes, her last class of the day, feeling slightly mind numb. School was a lot harder to come back to, after two years away, than she had previously anticipated. She was finding it hard to adjust back into a learning scheme after 2 years of fighting Death Eaters and running around with other freedom fighters. She was determined though, to get back on track. It shocked her that she wasn't at the top of her game. Slipping into a seat at the Gryffindor table she glanced around, Harry and Ron weren't there yet, but she waved to Dean, Seamus and Neville, who were just coming through the door. They all waved and came to join her, talking animatedly as they slipped into seats around her. She listened without adding input to their conversation. They were talking, to her surprise, about their plans for after school. Seamus it seemed, already had a job ready at his family's business. (His mother's family owned a shop in wizarding Ireland.) Neville was taking on an apprenticeship with Professor Sprout, but it was Dean who surprised her.

"I'm going to find my Dad." He said with a shrug.

There was a slight pause after this and Neville exchanged a look with Hermione. "What do you mean?" he questioned.

Dean shrugged again, this time using it to mask his expression as he cut into his food a little too viciously. "Well mum told me he left, but when one of the Death Eaters was tor- Um talking they mentioned my Dad. He was a wizard see, he only left mum and me to keep us from Voldemort. I'm going to go find him, apparently Voldemort never did." He flicked his head up as his voice got slightly husky. "What are you going to do Hermione?"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply and paused. "I- I don't know."

All three looked at her in surprise. "Really?" Neville questioned. "You have no plans at all?"

Hermione frowned as she shook her head. "None. It was such a struggle just to get to this point in my life. Anything after this... I just haven't had time to think about it."

There was an understanding nod all around, though Seamus still looked slightly bemused. They dropped the conversation as Ron and Harry joined them. Realising they were not the best people to involve in this topic. The tension between Dean and the two male members of the golden trio seemed long forgotten and talk turned inevitably to quidditch. Ginny joined them also, but chose instead to engage Hermione on the topic of a new store opening in Hogsmead. She seemed very keen to visit it on their next trip there, a girl's day, as she called it. Hermione readily agreed before excusing herself.

Her body was screaming its need to rest as she made her way to the heads common room. She stopped only once, and that was to peer up the stair case of the memorial tower. A light shone from above but she knew better than to go investigate. Many visited the portraits in the tower, almost all wanted privacy when they did so. She finally stumbled through the door to the common room and got no further, choosing to flop down on the couch in front of the fire. Her plan was to rest a few moments, without the weight of her bag on her shoulders, but she slowly felt her mind slip into darkness and she could do nothing as softness drew her into sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione became aware that she was moving. Normally this would not be a big deal, but something told her she should not be moving at all. She struggled to make her mind access information on her current position. Sleep deprived as she was she managed to realise a few things.

1: She was going up, step by step she was slowly going further up, stairs she assumed, but where they lead she wasn't sure.

2: She was unhurt and her wand was in reach in her left sleeve.

And 3: She was in a man's arms. She felt his strong muscles bearing her weight easily, the broad chest she leaned against and the masculine smell of grass, leather and a strange spicy sent she couldn't recognise.

Content to assume she was safe with Harry or Ron she dozed, waking again as they stopped moving for a second and a door creaked open. She started to pull some consciousness back into her body as they moved again and suddenly she was lowered, very gently onto a bed. This came as a surprise. Even in their most gentle moments, Harry and Ron were known to have dropped her on the bed, rather than placed her as she had been just a second ago. She was of the opinion she should open her eyes when a soft voice murmured to her in Italian.

"Sleep little princess. The world will turn without you for a few hours. You need have no fear. Sleep sweet angel, save your strength for another day of shining glory."

The words rang a bell but she was unsure if she had heard them said, or if it was a song she had once heard. At this moment she didn't care, the words and the voice itself were so soft and husky, with an undercurrent of something she couldn't place.

A feather-light touch on her forehead distracted her from her thoughts and she realised it was a kiss, so soft she almost hadn't felt it. She struggled to open her eyes, but when they finally slit open, all she saw was the tail of a black robe disappear as her bedroom door shut. Sleep claimed her again quickly and she submerged into dreams of grey eyes and dark, silky skin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Waking up was not something Hermione did well, but Friday morning she awoke feeling refreshed and more ready for the day than she had in a long time. That was until she looked around and realised that A. She was still wearing the clothes from yesterday and B. She was going to be late if she didn't get up and moving right that minute.

She rushed her shower and threw on the first clean clothes she laid her hands on. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair and gathered her books all in record timing. She was down the stairs out the door and on her way to the great hall, arriving just in time for breakfast.

The boys greeted her like normal and she slipped into a set in-between Dean and Neville. Ginny immediately started giving her more details about the new shop in Hogsmead and the guys quickly tuned out, uninterested. Hermione munched down her breakfast as she nodded along to Ginny's monologue, adding a smile or a "go on" wave of her hand where she saw fit. In her head she was trying to figure out just who had carried her to bed last night. The Italian words told her it was one of two people, Draco or Blaise. But she could be jumping to conclusions, after all she was sure there were more than three people in the school who knew Italian. And they might not even necessarily know Italian, they could have just been singing an Italian song. Then again, they would have had to know the password to her common room and have a reason for being there. She already knew it wasn't Harry or Ron, and Ginny was female. It could have been Theo she supposed, but she didn't think him the type to listen to Italian love songs. Shacking herself mentally she concentrated on Ginny again, leaving the identity to puzzle out some other time. Right now she had double DADA to prepare for. Curse Savage for ruining her favourite class already.

**XXX**

**Hey sorry this took so long and its so short, more coming though I swear.**


	14. stumbles, trips and falls

**Got a random brainwave, stay with me, this may be an odd ride. Hold on to your hats folks, can't tell you where this will end up.**

Chapter 13: Stumbles, trips and falls

Hermione stomped out of double DADA as soon as the bell rang, ignoring Savage who called her name twice. Harry and Ron hurried after her, Harry scooping up the text book she had left on the table and the bag that leaned against the chair. They huffed as they tried to keep up with the long strides that took her far from the class and down two flights of stairs. They only managed to catch their breath when Hermione stopped and leaned against a wall, eyes closed as she took deep calming breaths.

"I hate that man." She murmured softly and Ron smiled slightly.

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

Hermione cracked one eye open and offered him a small smile, "Well now you know, for future reference."

Harry chuckled." We'll try not to forget."

Hermione opened her other eye and reached out for her bag and books, Harry just shook his head, "I've got them."

Hermione sighed, "Thanks, Harry. Come on, let's go eat, I can hear Ron's stomach."

The three laughed as Ron's stomach growled and walked slowly down the corridor to join the flow of students headed down stairs.

As she made her way down the stairs to the entrance hall Hermione felt a soft brush against her shoulder but couldn't turn in time to see who it was, the foot that slammed into her leg was a lot harder and she felt her feet leave the stair and her forward momentum carry her on. She let out a loud scream as she felt herself fly forward arms stretching in the hope of catching her somehow. Yet nothing saved her and Ron and Harry's hands missed her by inches.

She closed her eyes and waited, yet the impact when it came, was a lot softer than she had expected, the breath was still knocked from her lungs, but it didn't hurt too bad. She heard a grunt of surprise and opened her eyes to find herself on top of none other than Draco Malfoy, arch nemesis and pain in the butt. His silver eyes widened in surprise as he found the Gryffindor nose to nose with him as they lay flat on the floor in the middle of the entrance hall. His eyes moved past her and took in a shocked looking Harry and Ron with a horrified Pansy behind them. Blaise was hurrying towards him, expression unreadable. His eyes flicked back to Hermione, who stared down at him in shock, lips parted slightly as she struggled to regain her breath.

"Get off me!"

The snarl snapped Hermione from her state and hands shoved her roughly to the side, flipping her onto her back and strait into Blaise whose legs tangled with hers. Blaise crashed down on top of the other two, causing a complicated tangle of Slytherin's and Gryffindor. The watching crowed didn't know wither to laugh or cry as Draco thrashed, trying to untangle himself from the other two, well Hermione, once again winded, lay trapped under the boy's. Things were only made worse as Theo, Pansy and Harry rushed into help. Only to have Theo's legs kicked from under him by a trashing Draco and Pansy kicked by a furious Hermione, making her crash backwards into Harry, sending them tumbling into the pile of withering limbs. The crowed finally broke into hysterical laughter as the role models of the school rolled around like puppies.

"Everyone stop moving!" The command rang out from the back of the crowd and Neville pushed his way forward as the group on the ground froze.

Neville surveyed them trying to keep a straight face. Draco lay flat, Harry lying half across him, well trying to reach Hermione, who was curled in a ball. Theo was sheltering Hermione from Pansy, who had been throwing off target punches at the girl while Blaise gripped her from behind, holding her back.

Neville shook his head as Blaise stood, throwing a screeching Pansy over his shoulder, from there he pulled Theo to his feet as Ron and Neville hulled Harry off Draco. Theo and Blaise both held out a hand to Hermione and Draco sat up, feeling a lump on his head.

Pansy continued shrieking insults and Neville glared.

"_Silencio_!"

Pansy's face grew red with rage as Neville silenced her with a flick of his wand.

"Now, do any of you need to go to the hospital wing or can we all go eat?" Neville wrapped a protective arm around Hermione and surveyed the rest of the group, evaluating injuries.

"I think everyone is only mildly bruised, Longbottom." Blaise's crisp voice informed him, "We will eat." With that he beckoned to Theo and Draco before hefting Pansy and striding off into the great hall.

Draco moved uneasily from foot to foot. "Sorry Granger!" he blurted, before rushing off after Blaise.

Theo surveyed Hermione worriedly. "You ok?"

She smiled back, "Yea I'm alright. You?"

He grinned and flicked his chocolate fringe from his dark eyes. "Couldn't be better." He murmured huskily. He winked at her and spun, striding off after his friends.

Hermione smiled up at Neville as he squeezed her gently.

"You sure you're ok? You don't need to go see Madam Pomfrey do you?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine, let's go eat." She extracted herself from Neville's arm and led the way into the Great hall and over to the Gryffindor table.

It was only when they were seated with their friends that the whole episode sank in, a giggle bubbled from her lips, surprising all those around her. It was Ginny, who had been watching the whole affair from the doors, that giggled next. The motion moved through the ranks until all the 7th year Gryffindor's broke into a fit of hysteria, sweeping up over half the school in their wake. They story circulated for the rest of the day until all had heard and laughed about the incident, most forgetting the original cause.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione hobbled into her double Healing Class after lunch, having discovered she was more bruised than she had initially thought. Larissa gave her an odd look as she walked through the door.

"Miss Granger!" The class all jumped in shock and Hermione froze, halfway into her seat.

"Err, yes Professor?"

"Come up to the front of the class."

Hermione winced and hobbled up to stand beside Lissa, wondering what she had done to deserve this.

"Miss Granger can you please tell me the last thing we learnt in this class?"

"To wrap bandages by hand." Hermione stated confidently.

"Wrong!"

"What!" Hermione gasped. Then it clicked and she blushed, lowering her head. "We learnt that Healing is only useful if we remember to use it when the situation calls for it." Remembering the words said as the class left the room at the end of the last lesson.

"Exactly." Lissa stared down her nose at the embarrassed teen. "So snap too!"

Hermione hurriedly whipped out her wand, "_Esuna. Episky_." The pain faded and the bruises healed, causing instant relief.

"Good." Lissa turned to the class. "Everyone stand."

There was a scrap of chairs as people slowly rose, some grumbling slightly as they complained about just having sat down.

Lissa flicked her wand and the chairs and desks zipped to the corner of the room, stacking themselves neatly. In their place settled rows of coloured mats, causing confused expressions to alight on many of the faces in the room.

"Everyone take off your robes, pick a mat and sit down." Lissa gave no room for argument, settling herself on a mat in front of the class.

Hermione was the first to obey, taking of her robes and sitting on a blue matt near the front. Harry and Ron followed her lead, sitting down on either side of her. The rest of the class slowly stripped of their outside layer, sitting down in groups relating to their house. Hermione ignored the odd looks she was getting from some of her classmates and kept her eyes focused on her teacher and friend.

"Right" Lissa called attention once everyone was settled. "Now today we are going to learn about a different sort of healing. This exercise is for healing the mind and relaxing the body. It is called meditation."

Lissa ignored the snorts and giggles around the class, instead she folded her legs tailor style and placed her hands on her knees, palms up.

"Everyone sit like this." She instructed. "This is an important exercise. All trainee healers a taught meditation, it helps calm the mind, which is necessary in emergency situations. If you can learn to clear your mind and focus on only the matter at hand then you can devote your whole attention to the task you must perform. In doing this you will perform any task, better, this includes all areas of magic."

She took a quick glance around to make sure everyone was sitting correctly. "From now on you cannot speak. You must do exactly what I say, when I say it. Now close your eyes."

Hermione let her eyes glide shut, instantly becoming more aware of the sounds around her. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm her heart. All her instincts screamed for her to keep her eyes open for any sign of movement from the potential threats in the class. Instead she turned her ears in to the sounds from their spots in the room.

"Everyone take a deep breath in. Hold it. Now release." Hermione followed Lissa's commands. "In. Hold. Release. In. Hold. Release. Focus on the sound of your breathing. In. Hold. Release."

Hermione relaxed as she breathed in and out, finding an easy rhythm in the exercise. She focused on the sound of the air passing into her lungs and back out, the soft _whoosh_ it made as it passed her lips.

"Now everyone, imagine you're in a forest. Nothing moves and the trees are thick and green."

Hermione felt her whole body tense at Lissa's words, her breathing lost its pattern and her heart beat speed. Next to her Harry's breath hitched and she heard Ron's legs twitch. A few isles down she heard Draco jerk his back strait, Blaise cringe and a low growl rumble in another males throat.

Lissa's voice was soft. "My mistake, a forest is no longer a peaceful place in many minds here. Keep breathing. In. Hold. Release. In. Hold. Release."

Hermione slowly relaxed as she picked up the rhythm again. It was a few long minutes until Lissa spoke again.

"Think of sitting on a beach." Her voice had turned flowing and as rhythmic as their breathing. "Your near the edge of the water and the sun is warming your shoulders. The waves roll slowly in and drag back out. In and out. In and out."

Hermione could see the beach in her mind, turquoise waves, rolled gently in, hissing over the golden sand, moving to the rhythm of her breathing. The sun was warm and comforting on her back, a gentle heat that leaked into her body. It reminded her of the warmth that had radiated from the person who had carried her to bed last night. Those strong arms had glowed with this same warmth. Those lips so soft like the gentle wind that swept her hair.

In her mind, a person was appearing next to her. This was her secret carrier, she just knew it. She squinted, trying to make out who it was against the glare of the sun. Only a few more seconds and she would know for sure.

"Great. That's all for now." Lissa's voice jolted Hermione from her vision, just before a face became clear.

Her eyes snapped open and she jumped up in surprise. Obviously she was still wound tight, even though she had felt relaxed. Others, like her were already on their feet, well some seemed to be coming out of a daze, rubbing their eyes and gazing around. Next to Hermione, Harry stood, tense and jittery, obviously none the better for this exercise. Ron however was still on his mat stretching out his long legs and smiling sleepily.

"Well. Not bad." Lissa's eyes roamed the class, obviously observing the reactions of all her students. "From now on we will meditate at the start of every Healing Class. This will be a time to let go of every thought of the day and focus on what takes place here."

She flicked her wand and the mats disappeared, the chairs whizzing in to form groups. "Everyone get into your groups and take a seat. Leave your robes off."

Hermione draped her robes over the back of her chair as she sat. There was a crash behind her and she jumped as Blaise slipped into the seat next to her and Draco appeared on her other side, she turned around in time to see Theo pick himself of the ground and brush himself down. At Hermione's questioning look, he winked and strutted over to sit strait across from her, smiling crookedly. She grinned back, wondering just what had gotten into the males in the school, only to be brought out of her thoughts as Lissa once again commanded the class's attention.

"Now, we're going to have a bit of fun today." A wicked grin lit her face. "I want everyone to take turns to stand up and tell your group why you're wearing the clothes you have on. I want you to tell them what you like about those clothes and why you wore them today. GO!"

Hermione scowled. She was pretty sure Lissa had made up this task on the spot after seeing some of the outfits worn by her and her classmates. Nevertheless, she turned her attention to Draco, whom as group leader, went first.

"Well." Draco started uncomfortably, "I'm wearing these white jeans because I like them and they were the first thing I grabbed this morning."

"No." Lissa swept up behind Draco. "Not good enough. Describe your pants."

Draco gave her a look that said he thought she was crazy, but nevertheless did as he was told. "I'm wearing, jeans. They are a very light cream colour and made of the softest denim magic can produce. My mother brought them for me before school started and I like them a lot."

"Why do you like them." Lissa pushed.

Draco sighed. "I like them because they are comfortable and because they compliment my physique."

"Good." Lissa smiled wickedly. "Continue with the rest of your outfit."

She walked away to another group as Draco hurriedly described his green and black sleeveless shirt, black shoes and random bits of jewellery, including a few rings and a snake pendent. After Draco came Daphne, who happily explained the various parts of her outfit, lacy black top under a green, strapless dress, heeled boots, emerald earrings', necklace, rings and to Hermione's shock, a tongue piercing. Theo was next, being very blasé about his black jeans, grey t-shirt and Chuck Taylor style shoes. Zach was boring, explaining how each bit of his outfit meant something amazing about himself or his family.

Blaise surprised her. He actually took the time to talk about what he was wearing. His white shirt was made of spun silk, from the second most poisonous spider in the wizarding world. It was soft, comfortable and as light as the air. His black pants were tailor made by an Italian designer of renowned skill and his dragon hide boots were of the finest make. He wore one lone earring, an emerald drop, that had belonged to his mothers great-grandfather, whom he was named after, and a delicate silver bracelet, given to him by his mother when he came of age.

Finally it was Hermione's turn. She had already noticed the odd looks from her classmates when she had removed her robes, and that now there was a good reason to look they did so in full force, obviously wondering just how her outfit came to be. Standing up, Hermione took a deep breath and prepared herself for the laughter she knew was going to happen at her expense.

"I am wearing camouflage, cargo pants. I got them at some point during the time Harry, Ron and I were looking for the horcrux's. I'm wearing them today because... Well I'm not sure exactly, but..." She shrugged, trying to ignore the blush that crept into her cheeks as Theo's eyes seemed to pick apart every detail of her pants. "I think they look kinda badass."

Draco snorted from her right but she ignored him choosing to look at Theo instead as his eyes traced glowing paths over her skin.

"I'm wearing a yellow-gold, sleeveless top. It has a zip in the middle and is made of a warm material, enhanced by magic to keep in heat. My mother brought it for me in 6th year, I placed the charm on it myself. I wore it today because it keeps me warm and it reminds me of my mother."

Theo was smiling now, but something was different about that smile, it wasn't warm, it was hot and his eyes smouldered as he looked at her. Hermione suddenly felt uncomfortable, her chest locked up and her skin blazed. She glanced away, clearing her throat.

"Um I have black gloves on, they are leather and inlaid with a soft lining. Ron brought them for me and I'm wearing them because I love them. Harry brought me my ruby necklace and I'm wearing it for the same reasons. That's all." She sat down quickly, waiting for laughter.

Instead she heard a quiet hum. She glanced over to see Blaise was looking her over, a considering expression on his face. He did not find the opportunity to voice whatever was on his mind, because Lissa chose that moment to bring the class back to attention.

"Right, everyone seems to be done. I hope that wasn't too hard for you." The sardonic smile said she meant the opposite.

Hermione supposed her clothes weren't too bad, she had to wonder how Harry explained his reasons for wearing a pink, flowery belt on his hips. But she assumed he would come up with something.

"Now moving on with the lesson." Lissa looked the class over. "If you hadn't already guessed, this class isn't all about healing magic, it's about healing you, mind, body and soul. You were all injured in the war, both physically and mentally, some more than others. We are in this class to learn to heal the outward injuries and try to minimize the mental damage you have suffered, together."

Hermione felt her heart beat slightly faster. She knew the signs, her friend was about to make them all step out of their comfort zone, again. Against her will, Hermione felt a wall slam down in her mind, shutting off her thoughts, feelings and emotions. She had studied Occlumency, mastering it after two years, now she reacted without thinking, even if her mind was not being battered by another's.

"I'm going to partner you up with someone from your group, we will then do a few trust building exercises, in the hopes you will learn to feel more comfortable with you partner."

Lissa moved quickly through the class, pushing people together into the most unlikely of pairs, probably on purpose. Hermione watched as Harry was shoved into a bright red Lisa Turpin and Ron sized off to Millicent Bulstrode. Neville came face to face with his long time competitor for Hannah Abott's affections, Ernie Macmillian, and Pansy Parkinson stood eye to eye with Lavender Brown.

So focused was she on the partners being made, she hardly noticed when Lissa approached her group. That is until Blaise was pushed into Daphne Greengrass, taking away her two choices of wanted partners.

"Zabini, Greengrass, partner up." Lissa smirked as the two stared at each other in annoyance. "Malfoy, you can partner with..."

Hermione's breath hitched, would she be put with Draco? Did she want to be with Draco? The alternatives weren't much better, Zack was annoying at best and Theo... Well she just wasn't sure about Theo right now.

"Smith." Lissa finished. "That leaves you and Nott, Hermione."

"Right." Hermione murmured, giving Theo a small smile.

Theo grinned roguishly in return, sweeping over to wrap an arm around her shoulder. "Great, this will be easy, right partner?" He smiled down at her, winking.

Hermione felt her heart pulse. "Yeah, sure will." She mustered a stunning grin to her lips, missing the scowls directed at Theo from behind her.

"Now we are going to have a heart to heart kind of lesson today. Each pair will sit on the floor facing each other, spaced apart from the other pairs." The class shrugged and seated themselves, some more readily than others. "Good. Now no-one panic." The teacher flicked her wand and glass-like bubbles appeared around each pair. "These are special wards. A few key elements being that you can hear me, but if any of you speck I will not be able to hear you. No sound may escape the ward, this ensures that anything said inside the bubble will remain private. There is also a truth charm, meaning you will not be able to lie to each other." She grinned at the horrified students. "Now we are going to do a form of the game 20 questions. Only I ask the questions and you get to answer." She clapped her hands. "Let's begin with something easy. Tell each other about your first kiss, details, who it was with, when and where. GO!"

Hermione made a silent promise to have words with her friend in the near future as claustrophobia rose, only to be pushed back down. She turned her attention to Theo, who sat in front of her, knees almost touching hers. "Ehem." She cleared her throat. "Um, did you want to go first or should I?"

Theo smiled, "I'll go first if that would make you more comfortable."

She couldn't help but smile back. "Great. Thanks."

He nodded, "First kiss... Hmmmm. Well I do believe it was with Daphne Greengrass, in our third year. I was walking back from the quidditch pitch when I bumped into her. She was upset so I tried to cheer her up. She kissed me, apparently it was her way of saying thank you." Theo laughed at the end of his short story. "Your turn."

Hermione sighed and let her eyes focus on the floor, playing with her gloves. "Um my first kiss was from Victor Krum, in our fourth year. He walked with me threw the garden at the Yule ball. He kissed me quiet suddenly, I wasn't expecting it." Here she made a face. "It wasn't very good."

Almost immediately after saying it she slapped a hand over her mouth, shocked that she could say something so mean. "I don't know why I just said that." She gasped.

Theo chuckled. "That will be the truth charm."

Hermione sent a glare at their teacher, just as she asked the next question. "Tell your partner about your first crush."

Hermione felt her eyes widen, oh this couldn't end well.

"Lady's first" Theo murmured, leaning forward slightly.

'_Lie.'_ Hermione thought to herself. _'You have to lie'_

"My first crush was Ro- Draco Malfoy." Again she slapped a hand over her mouth, only just realising how strong the truth spell was. Not only did it stop her from telling a lie, but it also forced her to tell the truth.

Theo's eyebrows shot up. "You're kidding!"

Hermione hung her head. "No joke unfortunately. It was only for a few weeks at the start of our first year at school, he was just so.. Sure of himself. He knew so much about the wizarding world and he just seemed so cool. Then we had our first conversation and it all went out the window." She offered him a rueful smile. "Your turn."

To her surprised Theo grimaced. "Um my first crush was... Millicent Bulstrode."

There was a heavy silence, in which Hermione stared at Theo, mouth slightly open.

Theo rushed to explain. "You see, when she was young, Milli was pretty cute. We hung out all the time, because our mothers are friends. And she was the damn cutest kid you ever seen. She had curly brown hair, chocolate eyes, smooth skin and she was tiny. I mean really tiny, delicate and thin." He shrugged helplessly, "A lot changed."

Hermione giggled, finally pulling herself together. "You can say that again." She glanced over to where the afore mentioned girl was snarling at Ron, no trace of delicateness in her.

Theo grinned back. "Ah well, we were both young and stupid it would seem. It's a good thing your first crush isn't forever."

Hermione shuddered. "Very good."

Theo laughed and reached across to rub her knee. "That's going to give you nightmares huh?"

She giggled again. "Probably."

They were interrupted as Lissa sprouted off the next question. "Tell your partner one irrational fear you have."

Hermione smiled at Theo. "Your turn."

Theo thought for a few moments. Apparently the truth spell would let you chose which answer you gave. "I'm scared of rats."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Rats? Why?"

Theo shrugged. "I don't know. Whenever I think of them I just picture them nibbling on my toes." He shuddered. "They just creep me out."

She bit back a laugh. "I suppose that makes sense, in a weird kind of way."

He glared playfully. "Well what are you scared of?"

Hermione turned inward, searching her mind. What was one of her irrational fears? She dug deeper, her rational mind had never allowed for any irrational fears. All fears had been rationalised or discarded as not worthy of being feared. But surely there was one that had skipped her attention. Just one small fear?

Her mind locked on to the one irrational fear she had not been able to get rid of and she blushed before  
the words even left her mouth. "I'm scared of being kicked out of the library."

Theo to his credit didn't roll around laughing. He couldn't, however, keep back the chuckle that bubbled out of him. "Ok you don't even need to explain that one, what would Hermione Granger do without her precious books. What I don't understand is why that is an irrational fear?"

Hermione shrugged, the blush still high on her checks. "Because I have a huge bookcase full in my room."

This did it, Theo collapsed into laughter, unable to contain it any longer. Hermione folded her arms and scowled as the teen laughed himself out. Finally he pulled himself back into a sitting position, using Hermione's leg as a hold.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione." He laughed. "But that's just so... you."

She allowed a small grin to frame her mouth. "Yeah well, what can I say, its irrational."

"It certainly is." He was still grinning madly, though Hermione failed to notice his hand had stayed placed on her knee and he now sat more to her side rather than right in front of her.

They both glanced up to see if there was another question coming, surprised to see Lissa staring right at them.

"Your next question is, what quality do you prize the most in friends?"

Theo grinned at her, "I believe it's your turn."

Hermione nodded and leaned back on her hands as she contemplated her answer. Her mind immediately landed on Harry, who was in fact her best friend. But there were so many qualities Harry possessed that she valued.

"This is a rather hard question." She mused. "But I think I'll have to go with honesty. I have to be able to trust them whole heartedly or a friendship will just never work."

Theo nodded slowly, his mind obviously turning her answer over and coming up with something unexpected. Hermione watched, confused, as a flash of remorse crossed his face. He shook it off quickly and smiled instead.

"I pick determination." Theo flicked his hair out of his eyes. "Without determination we would get no-where in life."

Hermione smiled letting a polite mask hide her true emotions. This is why Slytherin's and Gryffindor's didn't get on, their whole mind set was different. She wanted love and trust in her relationships, where as Theo seemed more concerned about having friends that were going somewhere. She valued happiness where he valued power. That is why a Slytherin-Gryffindor friendship would never work.

This revelation put a large down-buzz on her mood and she shuffled over to lean against the bubble, further away from Theo, making his hand fall from its place on her knee. Theo, to his credit, tried not to look hurt, but the sudden coolness she sent out surprised him.

He was saved from saying anything by Lissa who interrupted with the next question.

"Who do you care about most in this world?"

"Harry." Hermione said immediately, even though it was not her turn to go first.

Theo smiled tightly. "You love him?"

"Of course." Hermione looked over to where Harry was smiling at his red-faced partner. "He's my best friend. We both have no family left in this world. He's like my brother. He's my family now and I'm his. I'd follow him till death, almost did. I will never regret following him, no matter the pain it's caused over the last few years. He's all I have."

She glanced over to see anger and pain flashing across her partners face, she blinked in shock, watching as a wall slammed down, shutting it all off.

"My mother." Theo said coldly. "I love her, she's the only person I-" He chocked and spluttered, the truth charm halting his words. "She's one of the few people I care about in this world."

Hermione nodded slightly feeling uncomfortable. The mood in their bubble had taken an odd turn and Hermione wished she could get out, she was feeling trapped and slightly claustrophobic with the tense and resentful attitude Theo was now producing. She shifted, pressing her back into the bubble.

"What's your favourite colour?"

Hermione almost jumped out of her skin as Lissa's words filled their bubble.

Theo sighed audibly. "Black."

Hermione frowned. "Black's not a colour, it's a shade."

"Well I say it's a colour."

"Well you're wrong, it's a shade. Pick a different one."

He scowled. "Blue. Dark, midnight blue."

"Same, but light blue, sky blue."

He snorted and she glared. "What?"

"Pathetic. You would choose a wussey colour."

"Excuse me! Sky blue is not wussey!"

"Yes it is, it's soft, delicate. It's hardly worth having a colour like that around. You're such a girl."

Hermione stood, wand flying from her boot into her hand. "Say that again." She snarled, wand aimed at his face.

He stood slowly raised one eyebrow and whispered, "Girl."

She turned and pounded her fist on the bubble, making deep bell like tones ring out. Lissa looked at her with surprised.

"Let me out." She snapped at the teacher. "I want to get out now."

Lissa frowned but shook her head as Theo stood by.

"Calm down Hermione, I was just joking, I'm sorry."

"Shut up, Nott."

Theo flinched slightly then jumped back as Hermione drew her wand. But instead of aiming it at him she pointed it at the bubble.

A simple word and the bubble popped, allowing the outside world to come rushing in, in the form of noise.

"Miss Granger." Lissa scold. "What do you think you're doing!"

"I'm claustrophobic!" Hermione snapped back.

Theo and Lissa looked at her in shock.

"Well why didn't you use that as your irrational fear?"

Hermione spun to glare at Theo. "It is not an irrational fear, in fact it is perfectly rational!"

Theo raised an eyebrow "Rational? How is being scared of small spaces rational?"

"That's enough."

Theo spun in surprise to see Harry standing behind him, arms crossed.

"I am taking Hermione out of class, right now."

With that Harry marched forward and laced his fingers through Hermione's, pulling her into a hug. "We are done with this lesson I think."

Lissa nodded and watched silently as Harry drew Hermione out the door, sending a glare over his shoulder at Theo.

Hands landed on the confused Slytherin's shoulder and he turned to see Draco and Blaise on either side.

"Come with us." Draco said. "we will explain."

With that Draco and Blaise left, Theo trailing after them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Wow sorry that took so long. Not my best but that all I've got for now. Dont know where it went actually.**

**Enjoy anyway**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, taking ages again to update. I know. I'm obviously just not very reliable it would seem. Hopefully this will please you and stop the lynch mob.**

**Chapter 14:**

Harry kept his arm tight around Hermione's shoulders as he steered her down the corridor. He marched her strait past the teachers staffroom, earning a few startled glances from the Professors' who were not teaching. He glared savagely at the new Muggle Studies teacher, who seemed about to comment, silencing him before he could speak. He protectively drew her all the way to her common room, asking the portrait politely to please open even though he did not have the password. The portrait wisely did as it was bid, knowing better than to anger The-Boy-Who-Would-Not-Die. Harry sat Hermione on a seat in front of the fire and quickly moved to the kitchen to make her a cup of tea. Hermione raised her head and smiled as he handed it to her, taking a seat next to her with his own tea.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I don't know what came over me. I was perfectly calm, and then suddenly every answer he gave me had an ulterior meaning in my mind. Every idea enforced the difference between us." She sighed, "I just can't seem to let it go. It's like I'm trying to sabotage my own friendship with Theo, because I can't get over the fact that he's Slytherin"

She looked hopelessly at Harry. "But if I can't get over that, how can I expect anyone else to?"

"Hermione your judging yourself to harshly. You suffered a lot of pain at the hand of Slytherin's, at the hands of Theo's own father.."

"Uncle." Hermione interrupted quietly.

Harry blinked, "What?"

"The Death Eater Nott is Theo's Uncle, his father died in prison when he was ten."

Harry paused to process this. "How did you know that?"

"I read his file, it had his whole life's story. I only read what was important but," She shrugged. "I couldn't help but read some of the stuff that wasn't relevant."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Well you suffered at the hands of Nott's family and friends anyway. It makes sense that you're finding it hard to let go, let alone trust him. It's a big ask Hermione."

Hermione sighed, "But until then I wasn't having trouble at all. Everything was fine until..."

"Until you were put in a situation that made you feel venerable." Harry interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Your claustrophobic, Hermione. Being in a small bubble reminded you of the accident. In a position like that you can't be expected to trust someone not to hurt you. It's normal."

Hermione sighed, unhappy for being a normal human being and not the tough person she had come to admire. Still Harry was right and after a few more minutes of comfort she drained her tea and headed of to Herbology thanking her lucky stars the Sprout was the same as ever.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the Slytherin common room Blaise and Draco were staring haughtily at an uncomfortable Theo who shifted in his seat, far from anyone who could listen in.

"Hermione is claustrophobic," Draco started. "She wasn't born that way. It happened in the year after the Great War, start of last year to be exact."

Blaise rolled his eyes at Draco's dramatic way of explaining, but sat back and let him continue, preferring to listen.

"It happened the day they came to bring my father in for trial. As you can imagine, my father was not going to go quietly, and so a group of Aurors and Order members were sent to collect him, weather he came quietly or not." Draco sighed quietly but continued.

"The Order members sent included the-boy-who-would-not-die, Miss Know-It-All and a handful of Wesley's. As was to be expected, my father put up a fight. In the battle one of the staircases in the manor took heavy damage and eventually collapsed, landing on the unfortunate Miss Granger. Not only did it injure her rather badly, as it would being made of extremely hard stone, it also trapped her in a small, dark space, with only the sounds of battle left to convince her that her allies were still alive."

Theo was feeling more and more horrified as the story went on and so was rather shocked at Draco's next statement.

"And that's why she's claustrophobic."

Theo gapped at him, "But what happened?" he exclaimed and Draco frowned.

"What do you mean what happened? I just told you what happened."

"No. I mean what happened after that, how did they get her out, how badly was she hurt?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I want to know!" Theo rose to his feet, gripping his wand and Draco looked mildly concerned.

"Ok, Ok. Settle down. They finished the battle as soon as they could; I hear Weasel King almost lost an arm. Once my Father was restrained the Weasley twins managed to dig their why to Granger and get her out, she spent some time at Saint Mungos to heal from her injuries and then she was back and saving the world. The End."

Theo seemed ready to ask more but Draco stood, "Now if you will excuse me I have Quidditch plans to go over with Blaise."

He left and Blaise followed silently, leaving Theo to ponder how to make it up to Hermione on his own.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione was quiet at dinner but no-one pressed her. If she wanted to be quiet they would let her. Dean paid close attention to her plate, slipping more food on it if he thought she hadn't eaten enough. Ron told joke after joke, happy to see her soft smile when she found something funny. Ginny chatted at her, telling her all the stuff she had learnt that day and telling her she would soon be able to go to Hogsmead with her and explore the new shop she had told her about. Harry just sat near her, offering only his companionship and for that she was grateful.

Yet she couldn't help shooting looks at the Slytherin table. Theo was withdrawn, looking as though he was puzzling over a difficult problem and ignoring everyone around him. Draco and Blaise were talking to a group of 5th, 6th and 7th years, making them laugh and joke, falling about the table in a way that was almost unheard of since the war. Blaise caught her eye and nodded, letting her know that her plan seemed to be working. And so it was. The whole house was watching the group at its centre, wondering if they were allowed to drop their mourning. Pansy and the Greengrass sisters were entertaining a group of younger girls, making peals of laughter ring around the hall. The first years were all chatting excitedly about their classes and the 2nd and 3rd years were looking hesitant but happy as laughter enveloped their table for the first time since the war.

Hermione turned her attention back to her own table, happy to be among friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After dinner Hermione met Harry, Ron and Ginny in the heads common room, they had plenty of homework to do and she knew their weekend would be booked by quidditch. So she forced them threw the annoying procedure, helping where she could and pushing them when it was needed. They were only halfway through when Theo entered, looking for help with Ancient Runes and offering an apology for his actions earlier that day. And so he joined their group with hardly a whisper of annoyance from Ron. Neville was next, searching for Hermione's view on their newest Herbology lesson, something he could discus for hours, his transfiguration was bothering him as well, and he soon fell to work.

It was to their quiet murmurs and concentration that Draco and Blaise entered, looking somewhat shell-shocked at the invasion.

"What the hell is this?" Draco asked startled.

"It's called a study group, Draco." Theo drawled calmly, leaning over to correct Ginny's sentence.

Draco started in horror at the sight but Blaise shrugged nonchalantly.

"Actually, Malfoy, would you and Blaise like to join us?"

He opened his mouth to refuse Hermione's offer but she cut him off. "I could really use your knowledge. I know you have an amazing way with human transfiguration."

Draco blinked in surprise. "Ok."

Hermione smiled up at her from her position by the fire. "Great, take a seat. You to Blaise, I know Theo and I would love to pick your brains on this Ancient Runes homework."

And so they joined them taking positions in the circle of sitting, slouching and laying bodies that filled the floor space.

XXXX

Hours later Ginny stretched and yawned, thanking Blaise for his help before gathering her books and standing up. "Well I'm going to call it a night. Thanks for the help guys."

Harry, Ron and Neville stood to join her, also thanking the others before leaving. Hermione hardly noticed their departure, locked in a deep discussion of Defence Against the Dark Arts theory's and myths with Draco. They were lost in the exploration of hidden clues in the old text books, laying side by side on their stomachs as they muttered furiously to each other. Blaise shimmied over to Theo, seeing how his Ancient Runes was coming along and all was peaceful for a while.

Hermione came out of her revive briefly when Blaise asked if she would like a cup of tea. She murmured an affirmative before diving back in after Draco, desperate not to be left behind. A few minutes later both wisdom seekers were thrown from the book by a shake of the shoulder. Mugs of tea were pushed into their hands and they were ordered by Theo to take a break.

Hermione rolled onto her back, away from the book and sat up, taking the tea Theo offered, she sipped slowly, blowing gently on it before taking another sip. She followed this procedure for a few moments, blowing and sipping, blowing and sipping. She blinked and realised all three boys were watching her.

"What?' She asked self-consciously.

They all shook their heads and sipped at their tea and Hermione dimly thought that her she was again with these three Slytherins.

Finally she grew uncomfortable and she turned to the only subject she could think of that would relate to these three very different men. "So how is your quidditch team coming along? Have you got try-outs organised?"

A shiver of shock ran through the three boys and then Draco grinned. "Trying to spy for your house are you, Granger?" He teased.

She pocked her tongue out at him. "No. I was actually curious. I've never paid a huge amount of attention to the Slytherin team. I know you are the captain and the Seeker this year, other than that I know nothing. You play too, don't you Blaise?"

Blaise nodded but didn't speak, glancing at Draco.

"Yea Blaise is a chaser, a good one at that." Draco paused, eyed Hermione and then continued. "Unfortunately, until I see the try-outs, I can't be sure how good the team will be. A lot of our players either didn't come back or err..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well they didn't come back. So now we have to train an almost entirely new team. It's going to be difficult to say the least, and sometimes you don't know who's going to mix in the team right and who's going to mix wrong."

Hermione pondered this then, hesitantly, offered advice not sure how it would be received. "I could help with that."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "You're kidding?" He deadpanned. "I don't want to be rude, Granger, but do you actually know anything about quidditch?"

Hermione smiled, "I do _actually_, just because I don't like the sport doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. I'll tell you what. After your try-outs come to me with all the notes on the people you think are good enough to make the team. I can help you from there."

Draco considered this then nodded. "Sure ok, I'll hold you to it."

She grinned, "I'll look forward to it." Silence fell again and they all sipped at their tea.

"Draco?" Hermione ventured into the quiet.

Draco tensed at the use of his first name. "Yea?"

"What did you want to ask me?"

He looked at her confused, glancing up as Blaise and Theo lent forward slightly in anticipation. "Huh?"

Hermione wasn't sure what made her ask, maybe it was tiredness that loosened her tongue. "That other day when you followed me and attacked Theo. What did you want to ask me?"

Draco lent back against the couch, face calculating. "I wanted to know why you picked me." He murmured finally.

Hermione blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

"In Healing Class, when we did the trust building exercise, you picked me and Theo. I wanted to know, why me?"

"I wanted to show I trusted you."

Draco stared at her. "But you don't trust me."

"No, I don't." Hermione sighed and ran a hand threw her hair. "But I want to learn to."

"Why?" Two other voices's chimed in with Draco and Hermione glanced at Theo and Blaise.

"Because I don't want to live in hatred. Because I want to make a better world. Because I think, underneath it all, you are people worth knowing."

She stared at the doubtful faces and sighed again.

"But you don't trust any of us do you? Not even Blaise."

Blaise shot a glare at Draco for this statement but didn't comment.

"No." Hermione admitted frankly. "Not at all. But can you blame me?"

"What did Theo or I do to cause mistrust?" Blaise seemed truly hurt by her honesty.

"It's not what you did Blaise. It's what you didn't do." Hermione held his gaze and stared him down.

"When Draco and the other teased me and tormented me for being muggle born, you didn't say one word against it. Sometimes you joined in. No Draco.." She cut him off before he could start. "I'm not blaming you."

She surveyed the three men. "From day one you did your best to make my life hard. It wasn't physical things at first, just emotional. Like walking on the other side of the corridor so you would be at risk of catching my germs, or avoiding anything I had touched. Then it turned to pushes and trips in the corridor, like Pansey's trick on the stairs. Soon you abandoned all subtleness, you taunted, you cursed, you bad mouthed and you hurt me. Every single one of you caused me pain."

She took a deep breath forcing down the hysteria that built in her tone. Avoiding the eyes of her childhood enemies she focused on her cup.

"Then there was the war. Your family and friends all tried their hardest to kill me and my loved ones. Mr Malfoy and Mr Nott killed my parents, and for that I hope they both rot in Askaban. I don't hold either of you to their crimes. But I cannot forget what crimes you did commit." She raised her eyes again, taking in the sorrow filled expressions. "I remember every pain, every scar inflicted on me by you and yours, it is hard to forget, but I at least am trying."

She took a big gulp of tea, trying to calm the shaking of her hands.

Draco cleared his throat. "I'm sorry... Hermione."

She tensed at her name, causing remorse to flash over the blondes pale features.

"I know sorry doesn't change anything but it is all I have to offer, that and a promise. I will try, harder than I ever have, to make up for all the wrong I have done to you. It may take years, it may never be enough. But from now on I vow to do all that I can to earn your trust."

He edged closer to the weary girl. "Hermione." He half whispered. "I am so sorry."

She offered him a tentative smile. "I know. I may not be ready to accept that yet, but I will try. Thank you, Draco."

Theo sighed. "I've been trying to Hermione. I really do like you. I'm sorry about today, I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know Theo. I over reacted and I hope you can understand that."

"Of course."

There was a moment of silence then Blaise lurched suddenly to his feet, striding away from the group and up the stairs to his room. There was silence then the sound of a door slamming. More silence and then something hit a wall, shattering loudly.

Draco sucked in a breath. "I'll go talk to him."

"No." Hermione climbed to her feet. "This is my fault, I'll talk to him. I will see you two tomorrow. Sleep well."

They knew a dismissal and made their way to the door muttering goodnight before slipping away into the night.

Hermione took a deep breath then start her climb up the stairs, prepared for anything.

She slowly pushed open his door, taking in the already half destroyed room. Blaise spun in its centre, wand fling as things exploded and smashed, shattered and crumbled. The walls shifted in colour, flickering black, dark purple, midnight blue and blazing with flashes of blood red like twisted lightening on a storm night. Never had Hermione seen such emotion coming from this person, to view it now was to view a tempest kept locked up until it broke its bounds and lashed out with a ferociousness none could imagine. Hermione stood and watched as Blaise vented.

Finally he seemed to gain no more satisfaction from the destruction of his possessions, he turned instead on Hermione herself.

"You think I hurt you?" He snarled viscously."When did I ever lay a hand on you Granger? When did I cause you pain? **When**!"

Hermione calmly lifted her arm, showing a scar running around her elbow in a circle. Blaise stared in confusion.

"Third year, you pushed me into a viscous plant in Herbology."

She tilted her head to show a scar on her chin.

"Fifth year, you jinxed me and I hit my chin on a window sill."

She eyed him and raised her t-shirt enough to show a scar on her left hip.

"Sixth year, you tripped me down a flight of stairs."

Blaise gazed at her in horror. "I-" he croaked then cleared his throat. "I don't remember any of that."

"Of course you don't, I wasn't a human being to you then. I was just a muggleborn."

With that she turned and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. A minute later he heard the shower start and he sat down on his bed, drained of energy.

Blaise glared mutely at the roof, refusing to feel guilt for his behaviour. Slowly but surely the feeling crept up on him, slinking into dark corners and flooding his chest slowly. With a long suffering sigh he got to his feet and started putting his room back together. Magic fixed the room, but not the guilt that hung in his chest, weighing him down. He rearranged his book shelf, listening as the shower switched off and the door to Hermione's room opened and closed again. Grabbing a towel he went into the bathroom, switched the shower on to as hot as he could bear, stripped his clothes of and stepped under the spray. He let the hot water run over him and imagined it washing away all thought and emotion, clearing his mind and calming his nerves. This was as trick he had learned at a very young age. He had always been good at hiding any emotion or turmoil on a day to day basis but when it all became too much, this was his out let. The water drew away any problems and restored his emotionless person to perfection. He stood there for some time, letting the water do its job until he finally felt he could move again and keep his careful aloofness.

He dressed in silence, letting a cool stillness settle in his chest. Every move was calculated and expressed in its fullest extent to project calm and stableness. Finally he made his way to Hermione's door knocking three times before stepping back and waiting. There was silence from within and just as Blaise was about to leave again there came a quiet answer.

"Come in."

He paused, gathered the stillness he had gained around him like a silken shield and pushed the door open gently. Hermione sat cross-legged on her bed, reading from sheets of parchment and did not look up as he entered. He took the opportunity to observe the changes to her room. The walls were a rippled silver-blue, reminding Blaise of a pool of water caught in moonlight. The roof was dark blue with stars and a moon, shinning down onto the golden carpet. It was an odd effect, causing strange illumination to dance around the room and over the Hermione, who's bed was now a big circle draped in silver and gold. She finally glanced up from her work, eyes observing him coldly.

"Can I help you?"

"I wanted to apologise for my actions."

"I see, well your apology is accepted. I understand the emotion behind you outburst." Her voice was carefully neutral and polite and for some reason he hated it.

"I know it was uncalled for." He pressed, wanting to see more emotion. "You did not deserve the anger I directed at you."

Her eyes found her work again. "Think nothing of it. I have already forgotten about it. Do not trouble yourself over it anymore." She glanced up again. "Was there anything more I can help you with?"

"Hermione..." he paused unsure of what to say but not being able to handle the overly polite attitude she was projecting. "Please, talk to me."

He knew it sounded stupid and whinny, but nothing else seemed right.

She frowned. "I am talking to you, Blaise. I have accepted your apology. If that's all then I really need to get on with this. Kingsley needs my expertise and the Weasley twins have asked me to look over a business proposal."

This caught his interest. "You are going into business with Fred and George Weasley?" He asked carefully.

"No." She answered steadily, already starting to read the document. "But they like to get me to read any major legal documents before they sign anything. Just in case they missed anything that could be harmful to their business. A second view can always be very insightful."

He nodded slowly. "And what expertise does the Minister of Magic require from you?"

"I'm afraid that's classified information." She answered smoothly. "Now if you will excuse me, I really do need to be getting on with this."

He knew a dismissal when he heard one and he glided from the room, barely hearing the soft goodnight she directed after him.

XXXXXXXXX

The next day dawn bright and crisp, but the sun could not drive off the chill in the air and Hermione wrapped herself carefully for a morning down at the quidditch pitch where half her friends would be trying out for the team.

She pulled on a pair of her favourite jeans, which hid her knee-high purple soaks, worn for warmth rather than fashion. Though they did happen to match the royal purple, long sleeved, top she wore and the purple hair-tie that held her hair in a scruffy bun. She let a few strands of hair frame her face, wrapped a warm, black cloak around her shoulders and smiled at the overall effect. Not bad at all she thought before leaving her room and making her way to breakfast.

She spent the next hour forcing food into the nerves quidditch players, trying to calm their nerves, even well knowing that not all of them would make the team. Ron had got no more confident in his place as keeper and had insisted that Harry hold try-out's for the position. Just in case there was someone better. Harry had been doubtful and figured they could at least find a reserve Keeper, just in case they ever needed one.

So it was with a bundle of nerves that they all trooped down to the pitch. Even Harry was jittery at the thought of having to go through this process again. He had not enjoyed it in 6th year and he just knew this time was going to be worse. And once Hermione saw the crowd of people that had gathered she started to understand why. People from all years had come to try-out or just to watch, they all milled around in chaos as Harry stood in the midst of them gathering himself.

"**Everyone be quiet!"**

Harry's magically magnified voice caused complete and utter silence in seconds.

"Any spectators please say your last words to your friends and make your way to the stands."

There were some mumbled good lucks and claps on the back and a group of people separated, making their way over to seats to watch. Hermione and Neville went with them, offering a last smile to their friends. From their seats they watched as Harry continued to organise his players.

First he separated them into positions, giving each group a place to stand and explaining that even though he was playing Seeker he would be looking for a reserve. Next was a flying test. He sent small groups to fly around the pitch at differing heights and speeds. Judging how could fly and who couldn't. He eliminated half his options in that first hour of flights, even having to explain to one girl why she couldn't try-out if she couldn't stay on her broom for more than five minutes.

After that things became a bit easier. He set groups of people trying out to be chasers into the air circling round them well he had them passing the quaffle back and forwards. He eliminated another handful of people for not being able to catch the ball well stationary. Another three were sent away after failing to be able to throw it well flying. From there competition got serious as the chasers were sent in groups of three to score goals well dodging bludgers and the keeper.

Finally Harry whittled it down to three chasers, Ginny, Dean and a surprising new find, a first year by the name of Grace Quarida. Demelza Robins, from Harry's 6th year team and a 5th year boy called Jake Cully were offered positions as reserve chasers, which they were both happy to accept.

Try-outs for the Beaters took an interesting turn. After casting a shield charm on himself, Harry flew around the pitch getting one beater to aim the bludger his way and the other to defend him, he then switched their positions halfway through. After testing each person he sat down for a while, reading his notes and scribbling for a few minutes. He finally decided on two beaters. Jimmy Peakes returned to his spot and was joined by a new found talent a 6th year by the name of Matt Bundy. Ritchie Coote signed on as reserve.

Finally the beater trials took place. Ron preformed amazingly, saving every goal the chasers aimed and out flew all competition. Harry was uncertain if he should bother having a reserve as none of the other beaters came close to Ron's skill but picked the best of the rest, Colin Creevey.

From there Harry tested person after person who was interested in the position of being the reserve Seeker and finally made a choice. A second year girl named Marie-Annett Dolohov, niece of Antonin Dolohov, Death Eater and Remus Lupin's murderer. Hermione pushed down the resentment she felt on viewing the young girl. If she was willing to forgive Draco Malfoy then she could not hold this child responsible for her uncle's actions.

Harry finally dismissed everyone except the members of his new team. He kept them back for a few minutes more, obviously working out a schedule for practises and telling them what was expected for the coming season. Finally the group of players reached Hermione and Neville and they made their way over to the lake to relax against a tree and discuss Harry's choice's. Surprisingly it was Ginny who first confessed her doubts.

"I'm not sure about Grace, Harry. She's too young, too small and far too shy." Ginny frowned. "You would have done better to put Demelza in her place and kept her as a reserve."

Harry just shook his head. "You underestimate her. Grace will be great, you'll see. And you know Demelza is more interested in her clothes and social life, she wouldn't make the time for quidditch. Its easier to keep her in reserve."

Ginny shrugged, "If you think so, I'll trust your judgement, I'm just worried she won't gel with the team."

"I'm less worried about Grace and far more worried about Dolohov." Ron burst out. "I don't know what you were playing at Harry. It's bad enough she's in Gryffindor let alone part of the quidditch team."

Harry sighed, "Her blood means nothing. Her Uncle did all those things, not her, she was sorted into Gryffindor and that's all I need to know. As for her being my reserve..." He surveyed his friends. "None of you are thinking ahead. Next year I'm not going to be here and Gryffindor will need a new seeker. Better to train one now rather than leave it to Ginny to find one next year."

"What's this got to do with me?" Ginny yelped in surprise.

Harry laughed. "Well someone has to be quidditch captain next year. Think about it guys, Ron, Dean and I are all gone next year. That leaves Ginny as Captain but she will be down a Seeker, a Chaser and a Keeper. Marie-Annett will be trained, by me, to be seeker, Demelza and the Cully boy are both there for chaser and Colin will make a great Keeper. That means your all set for next year, unless you find someone better to take those positions."

He lent back and surveyed the members of his team.

Ginny shrugged, "Fair enough then."

Ron laughed, "Alright mate. You win. So what's the plan for the weekend? We really should enjoy our last year at school."

Hermione smiled as ideas were passed around. It was so nice to worry about normal things for once. Life was good and she planned to keep it that way. Now she just had to get through the year with Savage as a teacher and Blaise living with her and she would be set. Easy right? She wasn't so sure.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**And that's all for now, hope you liked it.**


	16. The never ending struggle

**A.N: Next chapter guys, sorry about the huge amount of mistakes in the last one. Please Review.**

Chapter 15: The never ending struggle

Hermione walked into the common room Saturday afternoon to be greeted by a storm of feathers. April was back, with a letter from the twins, she was joined by Hermes, Percy's old owl who now belonged to Bill, Errol, a ministry owl and an owl she recognised as belonging to Viktor Krum. Feeling decidedly flustered she gathered everything from the owls before handing out treats and offering bowls of water. The ministry owl left immediately, but all the others stayed, either for a rest (As was the case with Errol) or because they expected a reply.

She ripped Bill's letter open first, reading quickly before grabbing a piece of parchment and scribbling a detailed reply. He was checking up on his family, trusting Hermione to give him the truth in its essence, without any hassle. She wrote a long letter assuring him that Ron, Ginny and Harry were all perfectly well, giving him the results of the try-outs and even adding a few notes about their new teachers. She sent the letter off with Hermes, happy to be able to set Bill's mind at easy.

The twins letter was next, they thanked her for her help on the contract and had sent her a present as well, opening the package cautiously she was stunned to find a lovely necklace in a velvet box. The necklace was made of a delicate silver chain, with a large ruby set in a Celtic design. It was amazing and she put it on strait away admiring the shine and beautiful craftsmanship. She sent them a long letter, gushing over the necklace and thanking them repeatedly. April flew away swiftly, with a soft hoot of farewell. Mrs Weasley was next, having sent along a package of things forgotten by the group in the rush to get back to Hogwarts. Hermione made a mental note to give Harry, Ron and Ginny their belongings later. She let Errol rest before he attempted the flight home.

Finally her easy choices were over and she surveyed the letters from the Ministry and Viktor, unsure which one she was less reluctant to open. She shrugged and opened the letter from the Ministry, surprised to see that it was from Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror Office. It held only a few lines, informing Hermione that she had been accepted into the Auror training class that would start next year. It informed her only of the NEWTS that she would have to achieve to be sure she stayed on the list of accepted persons, yet a scribbled P.S at the bottom said this was just a formality and she was welcome even if she failed all of her NEWTS. It made her smile slightly, knowing she had at least one career path open to her when she left Hogwarts, thought she was still trying to decide if she wanted to be an Auror at all.

She turned to her final letter, eyeing it suspiciously as she reached for it. She had not heard from Viktor Krum since Bill's wedding, and she was unsure as to the content or tone that could be inside. She took a deep breath and tore the letter open scanning the parchment and breathing out in a sudden whoosh of surprise. It was a wedding invitation. Viktor was getting married, in the Christmas holidays, to a lovely Bulgarian witch whom he had fallen in love with. He begged her to attend as his friend, assuring her that he just wanted all of his friends and family by his side for this day. He also informed her that Harry, Ron and Ginny were invited. A small note at the bottom added that she was welcome to bring a date if she was involved with someone that wasn't one of the afore mentioned boys. She smiled at this and quickly penned a happy, congratulatory reply, assuring that she would love to attend and thanking him for the invitation. She kept it polite and simple. Once she had sent it she felt a weight drop from her shoulders and she smiled. Well that wasn't so bad after all.

Still smiling at having only nice mail for the first time in ages she sat at her desk and started to shuffle through the notes and letters from teachers and students. As head girl, a lot of problems were passed to her to deal with, especially if they involved students or planning anything outside of the school curriculum. And that was how she ended up with a letter from Headmistress, Professor McGonagall informing her that she and Blaise were to plan an occasion to help lift school spirit and promote house unity. They were given free reign, but they had to pass any ideas by at least two members of staff and receive the go ahead from them. They were given a budget and a list of things that had to be included and left at that. Hermione sighed. She would have to talk to Blaise, something she had been hoping to avoid for the next few days after last night's outburst.

'_Speak of the devil,'_ Hermione thought, amused, as the door opened. _'And he shall appear.'_

Draco and Blaise entered, bent over a piece of parchment and debating its contents loudly. Well, Draco was, Blaise remained silent and observant, as usual.

"I just don't think he will work. I know he was a Beater last year but you can't keep a guy like him on the team, not in these times!" Draco exclaimed somewhat dramatically. "I know he's good, but I have a reputation to keep and I can't guarantee he won't try and kill people on the pitch."

Hermione cleared her throat delicately and both males glanced up. Blaise frowned slightly but Draco hardly paused in his constant flow of chatter.

"Hermione! Just the person I wanted to see."

She was surprised at how easily her name flowed from his tongue, making her think that he had been referring to her by her first name in his head for longer than he would care to admit.

"I need your advice on our team." He strode across the room, pushed away her stack of parchment and sat on her desk, still examining his information. "I have the two Beaters from last year still at school. One of them I will gladly accept back to his position but the other I'm just not so sure of. He was a supporter but has yet to renounced his support. He's at the heart of the problems in our house."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Is he a good beater?"

Draco frowned, "Well yeah, but that's not the point."

"Actually that's half the point. If he wasn't a good Beater then replacing him would be easy and advisable. Now you have a harder task. My advice is, try-out everyone who wants to be a Beater, gather the best five and compose notes on them." Hermione paused. "Actually I would advise you do that for all the positions. That way I can help you go over the notes and decide on where to go from there."

Draco nodded, placing the scruffy paper on her desk. "How can you help though?"

Hermione grinned. "Data collection and evaluation is my strong point. Trust me, I can help. You might also want to think about getting a reserve Seeker, just in case."

Draco eyed her suspiciously, "You planning to put me out of action Miss Granger?"

She giggled, "Not at all, but accidents happen. Look at Harry, he missed almost as many games as he played. And you never know when a hippogriff might try and take your arm off, do you Draco."

She smirked at his slightly stunned expression.

"Are you making fun of me, Granger?" He gasped dramatically.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Was it that obvious?"

He donned a serious expression, "No, but my powers of observation are immense."

Hermione tilted her head back and laughed, not seeing Draco's eyes drift down her throat to the edge of her v-neck top, or Blaise's expression reveal a softness that people had never yet had the opportunity to observe.

The woman, unaware of her effect on her companions, smiled at Draco. "I'm afraid that that was one of the biggest lies I have ever heard. Your Observation skills are defiantly lacking."

Draco felt this was a bit much. "Hey now, that's a bit harsh, where is there any proof of that."

Hermione grinned wickedly. "Second year you failed to realise that Crabbe and Goyle were in fact Harry and Ron using Polyjuice Potion to try and find out if you were the heir of Slytherin."

She sat back and watched in satisfaction as this information sank in. Draco looked positively horrified, while Blaise's expression remained carefully neutral.

"You're kidding." Draco croaked out, "Tell me this is some sick and twisted joke."

Hermione shook her head, "I'm afraid I'm telling the truth, but try not to dwell on it, the past is the past."

Leaving him to ponder this shocking revelation she turned instead to Blaise. Handing him the letter from McGonagall and waiting for him to read it.

His expression became thoughtful. "Have you formulated any ideas as of yet?"

She shook her head, "Not yet. I thought I would wait and see what your thoughts on the matter were."

Draco pulled himself from his thoughts. "What matter?"

Hermione explained quickly, thinking that maybe Draco too could help. Instead he shrugged.

"Beats me."

"Thanks." Hermione drawled sarcastically.

He smirked and leaned back on her desk, "Honey, I didn't get a face this handsome by worrying about trivial things."

She rolled her eyes and pushed him of her desk, dumping him unceremoniously onto the floor. He spluttered indignantly and it was her turn to smirk.

"Things with no use have no place on my desk, they only serve as clutter."

He pulled himself up and leaned against his former perch, "Trust me Granger, I have a lot of uses." He winked rakishly, causing Hermione to blush and Blaise to send him a quick glare.

Draco raised an eyebrow at his friend but didn't comment, choosing to ignore this small display of emotion. "Why don't you have a dance or something? Everyone loved the Yule ball. Do something similar."

Hermione pondered this. "That could work, I suppose. What do you think, Blaise?"

He nodded slowly. "It would be an innocent activity for most of the school to enjoy, but it does not promote unity. The Headmistress obviously wants this to be the key factor."

Hermione's imagination came to a stumbling halt, got stuck in a rut and, after a few minutes of spinning wheels, bounced back out again and continued its movement forward.

"Make it a masked dance." She decided. "And partners will be assigned to you upon your arrival in the great hall. People have to tell us what they intend to look like so we can identify them and direct them to their partner."

"Who chooses the partners?" Draco asked

Hermione frowned.

"We pick the names out of a hat." Blaise decided.

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes at Draco. "We place everyone's names into a group, depending on their houses and gender so there will be eight groups in total. Hermione will pick out a random female from one house and I will pick out a random male from another house. By the end everyone will have a partner, from a different house, which they have to spend the night with. Everyone remains masked until the last dance where they reveal their identities."

Hermione smiled, "Sounds perfect, but I think the teachers should draw the names. That way we won't know who our own partners are and we won't be tempted to tip off our friends and the teachers can make sure we don't end up with a fifth year boy and a seventh year girl or something like that."

Blaise nodded agreement and Draco grinned. "All sorted then, don't worry, no thanks is necessary."

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled, "Thank you, Draco."

"How about a kiss?" He winked.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I do believe you just said no thanks were necessary?"

"Did I? Damn. Never mind, another time then."

"In your dreams." She announced.

Draco leaned forward excitedly. "Is that a promise?"

She hit his arm and he laughed at her blush. Blaise glowered silently but Hermione hadn't forgotten him.

"Blaise, how about you and I go over some ideas after dinner? That is if you don't have any other plans."

He smiled. "That sounds fine."

"Great." She bounced up smiling. "Well I've gota run. See you after dinner."

"Hermione?" Blaise questioned as she gathered her things. "That necklace you're wearing. Is it new?"

Hermione's fingers traced the delicate design. "Yeah, it's a present from Fred and George."

"It's beautiful." He murmured his slight Italian lit making the words husky. "It looks stunning on you."

Hermione's face glowed with happiness. "Thank you."

Blaise smiled back, his eyes shining green in the light. Hermione lowered her eyes, determined not to get lost in his gaze, she gathered the last of her things.

"He's right." Draco agreed. "It's beautiful but you're more stunning by far."

Hermione brushed this comment off with a laugh and opened the door. "Bye guys."

And with that she was gone, leaving a distinctly tense atmosphere in her wake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ginny cooed over her necklace as Hermione sat still, letting her twist it and turn it so it caught the light. Hermione had entered the Gryffindor common room and had immediately been pounced on by the enthusiastic teen. Harry had made a brief comment and sat back to watch his girlfriend, yet Ron had merely frowned and crossed his arms. Even now he sat sulkily in the background as his sister lamented about how the twins hadn't given _her_ a necklace.

"Honestly!" She exclaimed. "I'm their sister and do you think _I_ get a _Ruby_ necklace? No!" She sighed dramatically. "Still, I suppose you do keep them from falling into business traps on a regular basis."

Harry and Hermione laughed at her resignation of the argument.

"Don't worry, Gin." Hermione soothed. "There's always Christmas and your birthday."

Ginny brightened immediately. "True! Who knows, they could get me a matching ring and necklace for Christmas." She reached up and touched the opal necklace Harry had given her for her birthday last month. "Or maybe a bracelet would be better."

Hermione smiled, enjoying the tenderness her friend treated the necklace with, knowing she hadn't taken it off since Harry had given it to her. Ginny snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at her boyfriend.

"I have to go." She announced, standing up. "I promised to meet some people in the Library to go over our DADA homework." She kissed Harry's cheek. "Bye."

Hermione waved as she left while Ron still sulked in the corner of the couch. As soon as Ginny was out of sight Hermione turned to the red head.

"Ok, what's wrong?"

Ron's frown deepened, "What do you mean, nothing's wrong."

"Then why are you sulking in the corner like that?" She snipped.

"I'm not sulking." He growled.

"Are too. Come on, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

Ron." Harry urged. "What's up? Something's obviously making you grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy!" Ron snapped. "Geese, just get off my back!"

He stood and stormed out of the common room, leaving Harry and Hermione staring after him in shock.

"What on earth has gotten into him?" Hermione gasped.

Harry shrugged. "I duno. He was fine until you and Ginny came in. Something you said maybe?"

Hermione frowned, "Maybe, but I can't think what."

Harry shook his head, "Don't worry about it, I'll talk to him later." Harry stood up. "Come on, I've got something to show you. I didn't want Ron to see anyway."

Hermione followed, curious, as Harry lead her up the boy's staircase, into his room. Neville looked up as they entered waving hello before bending back over the book he was reading. Harry moved quickly over to his bedside table, opened the draw and pulled something out. He put his hands behind his back as he faced her again, keeping the object hidden.

"Now." Harry said. "I want you to keep an open mind and tell me what you think. Ok?"

Hermione nodded. "Sure." Curiosity burned her now. What could Harry be so nervous about?

He took a step forward and held out a small, red, velvet jewellery box for her to see and slowly opened the lid.

Hermione gasped. "Oh Harry!" She whispered, awed. "Where did you get this? It's perfect! She will love it. When are you going to ask her?"

Harry smiled as she gently took the opal ring from its box, holding it delicately.

"I got it the same day I got her necklace. And I'm going to ask her to marry me on New Year's."

Hermione felt tears prick her eyes and she wiped at them hurriedly. "That's so amazing. I'm so happy for you."

"So you think Ginny will like it?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Oh Harry, she will love it. It's perfect for her, I promise." Hermione gave in and wrapped her arms around him squeezing him tight.

He hugged her back, smiling into her shoulder. "I hope you will be there as my best woman."

Hermione pulled back with a laugh, eyes pooling with tears. "Of course!" She paused, "But what about Ron? Won't he be your best man?"

Harry looked down. "You're my best friend Hermione."

She smiled. "Thanks Harry. But Ron should be your best man. I can be a Grooms woman.

Harry laughed. "Or a bridesmaid? I know Ginny will probably want you to be her maid of honour."

A slight movement caught their attention and they both glanced over at Neville as he stood up. He blushed slightly when their gaze landed on him.

"Sorry. I was just going to give you some privacy." He shrugged and smiled. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Harry grinned. "It's fine. Actually I was going to ask to be one of my groomsmen, if Ginny say's yes of course."

Neville smiled widely. "Well she isn't going to say no, that much I'm sure of." He moved closer and examined the ring Hermione still held. "It really is amazing; she's going to love it."

Harry beamed at his two friends and pulled them both into a hug. They laughed and hugged him back, happy to see the absolute joy on his face. Harry deserved this piece of happiness and Hermione knew she and Neville would both do anything in their power to make the wedding the best day of his life.

"Come on." Harry urged. "Let's go get dinner."

They agreed and Harry put the ring back in the draw before joining them at the door.

"Oh Hermione?" Neville said as he closed the door. "That's a pretty necklace. It's new isn't it?"

Hermione's laugh floated down the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione nearly fell through the portrait door into the common room after dinner that night. She righted her balance quickly and kicked the door shit. Then she wobbled across the room and carefully placed a stack of books onto her desk. Sighing in relief she slung her bag onto the floor, dropped a stack of notes on top of the books and made her way into the kitchen. There she busied herself by making a pot of tea (the muggle way) and tidying up the few dishes that where on the bench. Just as she was finishing she heard the portrait door open and she called out.

"Blaise? Would you like a cup of tea before we get started?"

There was a slight pause and then a voice that was most certainly not Blaise called back.

"Get started with what?"

Hermione frowned and pulled her wand from her pocket. She marched out into the common room, wand held tight.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped.

"Now now, Hermione." Savage smirked. "Is that any way to talk to a teacher?"

Hermione scowled. "What do you want Savage?"

He smirked as he made himself comfortable at her desk. "I thought I would check in and see how the Head Girl was getting on. See if she needed help with anything."

Hermione stayed over her side of the room, not trusting him enough to approach. "I'm fine thank you professor. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm having a meeting with the Head Boy."

Savage looked around, his black eyes dancing. "That's strange, I don't see the Head Boy."

Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes, "He will be here soon. We have much to do, so please." She gestured to the door.

He ignored her, examining the room and her desk instead. "Interesting place you have here. Who decorated? You or him?"

She fought back a smile. "It was a joint effort."

"Indeed?" He raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that Zabini and you did not get on at all."

"We have put aside our differences." Hermione said firmly, thinking of their argument the night before. "We really get along quiet well."

Savage smiled devilishly, and if Hermione hadn't hated him, she might have thought him handsome at that moment. "How sweet. Well it's good to know the Head's of the school have learned to accept each other, a great show of house unity I must say."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Well if that's all, please, leave."

He shook his head. "Oh no, not yet. See I quiet like it here, and it's been so long since we had a nice chat. You are so busy these days, I'm surprised you get all your homework done."

Hermione leaned against the wall, keeping her wand in hand. "Well, my schoolwork is still a priority. I have good time management skills, so I get everything done."

"Hmmm." He stood making Hermione tense. "So you manage all that, but you can't make the time to see little old me?" He walked slowly towards her. "I'm hurt Hermione, I thought we were closer than that."

She raised her wand. "Don't come any closer Savage. I won't hesitate to curse you."

He stopped and smiled. "Hermione, you don't trust me? But we're such good friends, think of all the things we went through together."

"Get out Savage. This is my place and I don't want you here."

"To bad. Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!" Hermione reacted quickly, deflecting the spell. "Stupify!"

He dodged easily, letting the curse sore into the fire. "Confringo!"

Hermione banished the spell silently, flicking her wand and sending a blaze of purple light his way.

His eyes widened slightly as he blocked it. "Reducto!"

Hermione repelled it easily and bounced forward. "Petrificus Totalus!"

He laughed as he dodged. "Such elementary spell's Hermione! Hardly worth the effort. Sectumsempra!"

Hermione threw herself out of the curses path, "Langlock!"

Savage chocked in surprise as his tongue glued itself to the roof of his mouth, making him unable to speak. His eyes widened in horror and without further thought he threw himself at Hermione, catching her around the legs. They crashed to the ground; both wands sent flying as they rolled in a flurry of fists. Hermione squealed in pain as Savage's fist connected with her stomach. She slammed her foot into his leg and elbowed him in the shoulder, catching him off guard. From there she didn't let up, she punched him in the face, kicked him, elbowed him, kneed him in the gut. She even bit his hand when it closed over her mouth.

To his credit, he landed a few of his own blows, though this was more thanks to superior strength and weight than skill. Hermione snarled viscously as Savage punched her in the jaw, sending her flying from him, she dragged herself toward her wand, knowing he couldn't work magic non-verbally. He saw her destination and with a silent roar he threw himself on top of her, knocking the air from her lungs and making her rips ache nastily. She yelped in pain, squirming as he pinned her down. His hands closed around her neck and she fought back in panic, thrashing as she slammed blow after blow into his face. Suddenly his weight flew of her and she heard a crash as he hit the wall.

Hermione gasped in air and stared in shock as Blaise hauled Savage off the floor where he had landed. The younger man held the shocked teacher off the ground by the neck of his shirt and slammed him into the wall.

"What, in the name of Merlin, are you doing?"

Hermione's eyes widened as Blaise roared. She had never even heard him yell before, let alone cuss. Savage mouthed soundlessly as Blaise slammed him into the wall again, making his head bounce against the stone.

"Blaise stop!" Hermione finally gained her footing and wrapped her hands around Blaise's arm. "Just let him go. It's ok, I'll explain, just let go."

Blaise looked at her in disbelief but sighed and let Savage drop.

The teacher stood and yelled silently at Hermione, waving his arms wildly. She narrowed her eyes.

Get out." She snarled quietly eyes blazing in furry.

Savage paused, glared and turned, snatching up his wand as he left the room.

Blaise turned to her, "What is going on?' he growled.

Hermione winced as his eyes flashed a dark silver, looking as hard as steel. "Um long story." She pushed her hair from her eyes and dapped at a bleeding lip. "Savage... Well we've never really got on, this kind of attitude." She shrugged. "Well it's kind of normal. Usually its not physical fighting, it's magic, but he can't use non-verbal spell's so I guess he thought he didn't have a choice."

Blaise stared silently.

She smiled sheepishly. "I know it seems a bit much, but we've always been like this, especially when we worked for the order together. Nobody ever wanted us on a mission together."

"Are you telling me," Blaise spoke slowly. "That you wanted this?"

He gestured to her torn shirt, bleeding lip and battered body.

Hermione winced at his hard tone. "Of course not! I didn't start this. Just." She took a deep breath. "Just don't tell anyone. Kingsley wants him here, and he told me to deal with it. So he stays, and none of this gets mentioned."

Blaise sighed, "Fine, if that's what you want. But know this, if he ever touches you again, I will personally beat him within an inch of his life and drag him to the Minister myself."

Hermione grimaced. "Ok. I appreciate that, but it won't happen again, I promise."

He frowned then shock his head, "Come here." He gestured softly.

She paused and stepped closer, trying not to cringe as he gripped her chin gently. Mumbling spells he went over her face and neck, healing and repairing the damage. He moved slowly down her body, slowly removing the pain and stiffness, there was a slight pop as a broken rib healed and she saw a flash of rage make his face blaze. She stayed quiet as he worked, letting out a sigh as he stepped back.

"Thank you."

Blaise nodded and walked into the kitchen. Cupboards opened and closed, there was a few clinks and Blaise came back, holding out a cup of tea for her.

"Thank you." She murmured again, taking a sip of tea and letting it sooth her.

"Are you going to be ok to go over these ideas? Or would you like to go rest, you must be tired and sore." His concern was on partially hidden and she smiled gratefully.

"No I'm fine. Please lets work."

She led him to the couch and handed over her notes that she had made earlier. The settled down to work and any leftover tension flowed from the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hours later Blaise woke slowly, wondering where he was. The dim light of the dyeing fire lit the common room and he gazed down at Hermione who was curled up, with her head in his lap. He couldn't control the smile that grew on his face as he gazed at the tiny female. Pieces of parchment were scattered around them and he suppressed a laugh, so much for working. Still they had worked until late, and after the eventful day they had both had he guessed it was only fair that they had fallen asleep. Moving slowly he slipped the petite woman's head from his lap and bent to gather up all the parchment, stacking it neatly on the coffee table. After tidying he turned to his sleeping companion and with another small smile he bent and slipped his arms under her. Moving slowly he lifted, taking care not to jostle her. He turned, making his way toward the stairs. She moved in his arms and he looked down, his eyes meting her honey brown ones.

"Blaise?"

"Sleep little princess." He murmured in Italian and she smiled sleepily up at him before closing her eyes again.

He slipped into her room and placed her gently on the bed, pulling the covers over her and smoothing back her hair. He paused a second and then dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Good night." He murmured and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Honey eyes opened again at the sound and they filled with interest as the stared at the closed door. "Good night, Blaise Zabini." Hermione murmured before closing her eyes again and letting sleep float her away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Ok that's all. There are pictures of Hermione's necklace and Ginny's matching set on my page. Enjoy.**


	17. Take it back

A.N Hermione was **not**, I repeat **NOT**, raped by Savage, and she never ever will be. I apologise if that's how it came across. But Savage is in fact a good man. He's an Auror, he worked for the Order and he helped to bring around the fall of Voldimort and his Death Eaters.

**On that note, here is the next chapter. Quick shout out to Munlleca for your post, no Harry and Ron don't know, but wouldn't it be fun if they found out? ;)**

Chapter 16:

Hermione woke the next day to an empty common room. Blaise was up and had already left for the Slytherin try-outs. She made use of his absence and had a long shower, then pottered around in the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, moisturized, put on a little mascara and finally tamed her hair into smoother curls, letting it fall about her face and shoulders. Doing this to her hair took up a lot of time and energy, which is why she didn't bother doing it every day. Her hair was wild and that's just how it was going to be, she had accepted that but it didn't stop her from pampering herself every so often. And she wanted to feel pretty today, she was allowed to be a girl some times.

Smiling at her reflection she turned and breezed into her room, opening her wardrobe and observing her clothing options. Pulling out a silver robe that shimmered when it caught the light she laid it on her bed and pulled out a couple of draws, selecting clothes to match it. Jeans where a given, it was cold and denim held heat spells better than any other material. She pulled them on over her underwear and pondered on a top to wear, she finally decided on an emerald green v-neck that made her eyes glow, pulling the robes over top she picked up her wand and left the room, making her way to breakfast.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry and Ginny greeted her happily as she joined them, apparently Ron was still sleeping. Dean smiled up at her and shifted to make room for her in-between him and Neville.

"Sleep well 'Mione?" Dean asked as he handed her the tea pot.

"Mmhm." Hermione answered. "Surprisingly well actually, considering I was up quiet late. What about you?"

Dean grinned, "I always sleep well. Why were you up late? Zabini wasn't bothering you, was he?"

She shook her head, "Oh no, quite the opposite, we were working on a project McGonagall gave us. Unfortunately it's taking more planning than I thought it would. We might have to get some of the prefects together to help us plan."

"Oh." Dean raised an eyebrow. "Anything I can help with? If you were in need of anything artistic..."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Actually Dean, you might have a very good point."

He looked surprised. "You're doing something artistic?"

"Yes. Very artistic." She paused apparently planning quickly. "Are you free during first period tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Yeah, did you want to meet up?"

She nodded eagerly. "That is if you don't mind helping."

"Of course, I'm your man." He grinned at her and she beamed back at him.

"Perfect. You're a life saver. Ginny I could use you too." She turned to the red-head who was perched on Harry's lap. "Are you free then too?"

Ginny nodded, looking intrigued. "Sure. But what's this all for?"

Hermione sighed. "I wish I could tell you. But it's kind of top secrete unless you're working on it."

They nodded in understanding and turned back to their food, content knowing they would be told all tomorrow.

Ron finally made an appearance, mumbling a hello to the group before helping himself to some breakfast. Hermione followed his lead, piling her plate. She didn't see Dean's approving smile at her food or Seamus give him a weird look from across the table. She was hungry so she ate it was as simple as that. Other girls might starve themselves, but Hermione was not one of them.

She finished quickly and stood to leave.

"Where are you going 'Mione?" Ron asked, swallowing his mouthful.

"To my room, I wanted to get some homework done."

Harry laughed, "It's the weekend Hermione, aren't you going to relax, spend some time with your friends?"

Hermione hesitated and Ginny raised an eyebrow, "You are going to spend time with us, aren't you?"

Hermione laughed, "Ok, Ok, I'll ditch the homework for today. But I do have to go to my room, just for a few minutes I promise."

"I'll go with you." Ron stood up. "Or, knowing you, you'll end up going over something important and spend hours there." He grinned down at her.

Hermione laughed, "Fine, let's go."

She led the way from the hall Ron striding beside her. She walked double paces to his one, her legs, though long on her body, were far shorter than his. She felt her heart pumping from the exercise, surprised at how out of shape she had gotten. Deciding to do something about it soon, she flicked a few ideas threw her mind and settled on a couple that could work. They reached the common room quickly and Hermione rushed to her desk, scribbling down her exercise ideas before she could forget. She then wrote a quick note to Blaise, which she placed on his desk and scooped up the note book she kept with her at all times for various reasons. Turning she bit back a gasp as she came face-to-chest with Ron. She gazed up at him in surprise.

"Ron, what-?" She stopped at the look on Ron's face. He gazed at her in a way she wasn't sure she liked.

His eyes glowed softly as he smiled, his gaze showing love, friendship and something more, something she wasn't sure she could deal with.

"Hermione." He whispered, raising a hand to push her curls from her face.

She froze, unable to move or speak, _'Merlin, please don't let this be what I think it is.' _She prayed.

"Hermione, I've wanted to talk to you, I need-"

"Ron-"

"Shhh." He held a figure to her lips. "I need to say this, no interruptions Hermione. I've wanted to say this for so long, but never known how. I almost did once, just after The Manor Incident, but I passed out before I could." He smiled sheepishly. "I love you Hermione, I always have, even when I called you a know-it-all or fought with you. I love you and I don't want to go on without you knowing."

Hermione stared at him, wide eyed, mouth slightly open. She felt like a dear in the headlights, unable to move or think.

"Hermione?" Ron was looking at her with hopeful eyes. "Say something 'Mione."

"Ron I- Mumph!"

She was cut off as his lips crashed onto hers, her knee's hit the back of the desk and she tumbled down on top of it. Ron moved with her, not breaking lip contact as he pressed her down on the hard surface. She twisted, freeing her lips.

"RON, stop!" She cried.

He paused, hovering above her, eyes wide and breath coming fast. "Hermione?"

"Ron, please, let me up."

He paused, and then his face dropped, losing the passion that had been shinning there. "You don't feel the same?"

She shook her head unhappily, "No, oh Ron I'm so sorry. I love you, just not like this. It's not- I can't-" She struggled to explain herself and he smiled sadly.

He straitened, pulling her up with him. "It's ok 'Mione, I understand. Just tell me one thing."

She gazed up at him, wishing she could erase the pain in his eyes, "Anything."

"There isn't someone else is there? It's just because of me right? I didn't lose you to someone else?"

"Oh Ron, no. There's no one else. You didn't lose me. I'm still here, still yours. Just your friend, not your lover."

He nodded, "Ok." He shifted on his feet, "I'm going to go down with the others. I guess you'll want a few minutes. I'm sorry." He gazed at his feet. "I didn't mean to jump you or anything, I've just wanted to do that for so long."

"I know Ron. It's ok. I don't hate you for it. It was just such a shock."

"I know, I'm sorry." He pushed a curl from her face, and then pulled back. "I'll see you in a few minutes. Oh and Hermione? I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm not giving up. I'll fight for you."

He left quickly and Hermione let out a large sigh she turned towards the staircase and froze. Theodore Nott stood at Blaise's doorway, eyes wide as he stared down at her.

"Theo!"

He smiled awkwardly, "Hi."

"What are you doing?" Hermione questioned, as he shifted his feet nervously.

"Um well I was getting something for Blaise, because he's down at the pitch."

"Oh." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Did you see all of that?"

He nodded guiltily. "Yea, I did. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But I walked out and he was on you. . ."

He shrugged helplessly and Hermione shook her head, waving him off. He watched as she tidied her desk and shuffled her papers into order. He moved slowly down the stairs, watching as she ordered and reorder her quills. He moved closer as she swept a bit of invisible dust from the wooden surface, her hands shaking. And he wrapped his arms around her when she turned with tears in her eyes.

She relaxed into his hug, but refused to let the tears fall. He accepted that and just held her until she calmed down. A few minutes later she was breathing normally again, her un-fallen tears had disappeared and her shakes had stilled.

"You ok?" He murmured softly.

Hermione felt his voice rumble threw his chest as he spoke and she sighed gently. "Yea I'm ok. I was just... Shocked."

Theo smiled, "Well you had every right to be. It's not every day your best friend confesses his undying love for you."

Hermione groaned softly and he winced. "Sorry."

"It's ok. Well I have to go, the others are waiting for me, and Blaise will be waiting for you."

"Yea, your right." He stepped back and winked at her, "Chin up love, it's not all bad."

She smiled as he walked to the door then stopped him, "Theo?"

"Yea?" He turned, half out of the room. "You won't tell anyone about this right?"

"Of course not love. Your secret's safe with me." And with that he was gone.

Hermione sighed and sat back to calm herself a little bit more before heading out.

XXXXXXXX

The others were waiting by the marble staircase; Ron smiled at her as she approached, acting for all the world like nothing had happened and Hermione was grateful. But the look Harry was giving her said he knew something was up and they would talk later. She sighed, it was unavoidable, but she would rather not discuss her love life with Harry. Still she put it all from her mind, intent on spending time with her friends and enjoying the pace in the world, she had worked so hard for it, it would be a shame not to put it to use.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione leaned back against Dean as the group gazed at the sky above the lake. She glanced over to see Ginny, nestled against Harry and smiled at the obvious love the two sheared. Lavender and Parviti where cuddled against Neville who had wrapped his cloak around the three of them, to keep the cold at bay. Seamus and Ron were at her other side, keeping up a debate about quidditch and Luna sat by Seamus, listening politely as they talked.

A frosty breeze blew off the lake and Hermione shivered slightly. Winter was on its way and it was making sure they knew it. Dean's arm wrapped around her, pulling her against him, he pulled his cloak over her shoulders and smiled when she looked at him gratefully.

"Hermione." Ron's voice interrupted her revive. "What do you think?" He questioned, making her and Dean look at him blankly.

"Think about what?" Hermione questioned.

"About who's going to win the quidditch game? The Cannon's or the Harpies?" Ron shot a glare at Dean, making the boy raise an eyebrow in confusion.

Hermione sighed, "I don't know Ron. You know I don't follow quidditch."

Dean grinned. "It's not the hardest question 'Mione. The Harpies will slaughter the Cannon's, everybody knows that."

Hermione smiled and shrugged. "You guys would know. I'll leave that area to you." She leaned back against Dean, content to watch the clouds roll by.

She didn't notice Ron glare at Dean again or Dean frown back and jerk his chin up in defiance. Ron pointed his wand threateningly and Dean raised an eyebrow again, a challenge passing between them. Hermione interrupted the moment by sitting up.

"Sorry guys. I know it's not late yet, but I have to go. Blaise will be back now and I really have to talk to him."

Harry and Ginny pulled out of their little world to bid her goodbye and Dean stood helping her to her feet.

"Did you want me to walk you back?" He asked, smiling down at her mischievously.

She smiled back but shook her head. "Na, you stay here. I can find my own way back." She said goodbye to the group and made her way back to the castle, not hearing the argument that sprung up as soon as she was out of hearing range.

"What do you think you're playing at!" Ron bellowed at Dean, his face turning a nice shade of pink.

Dean looked at him like he was crazy, "What the hell do you think I'm doing?"

"I think you're trying to get into Hermione, is what I think!" Ron snarled back, not only angry but upset, knowing Hermione wouldn't have let him hold her like that, not after what he had done before.

"He wouldn't be the only one." Lavender murmured softly.

"What?" Ron spun to face the girl, his face slowly darkening to red.

"Oh come on Ron. You don't think you're the only one to notice how amazing Hermione is, do you?" Lavender shook her head at him. "I can name ten people off the top of my head that would love to get with her and that's not including the three guys in this group." Seamus had the decency to blush at that and Dean smiled crookedly.

Ron gapped at the three of them. "Hermione is not someone that people chase after. She is Hermione Granger for Merlin's sake. People don't want Hermione; people want you and Parviti and Padma and the Greengrass girls. They do not want Hermione."

Lavender shook her head slowly. "Of course they do. They just don't tell anyone because Hermione is the one girl they know they can't get. But they still hope and dream, just like you did Ron, like you still do. But you had your chance and you blew it. You should have dated her when you had the chance, but you hurt her and you used me to do it. I don't blame you, it was my fault to, but there was no way she was ever going to take you back after that."

Silence followed this speech and Ron stared unseeingly at his ex-girlfriend. Harry stood, eyes filled with worry as he approached his friend.

"Ron?" He put a hand on his shoulder. "You ok mate?"

Ron looked up at him, pain streaking his face and agony pooled in his eyes. "I blew it Harry. I blew it. But I can't let her go, not now, not after so long. I'll fight for her. Until she makes a choice I'll fight for her."

"Fight if you want Ron, but don't think you will be alone, others will fight for her, and another might win."

Ron's head drooped, "I know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione sighed gratefully as she slipped into the common room, relived to be away from Ron's gaze. She felt like a dear and Ron was the wolf who stalked her waiting to pounce. She shook herself, trying to relax and smiled at the fire in the hearth. She slipped of her robes and slung them over a chair before making her way up the stairs to Blaise's room. She pushed at his half open door stepping into the room.

"Blaise I-"

Her mouth clamped shut as she came face to face with Draco Malfoy. A semi-naked, dripping wet and surprised looking Draco Malfoy. Her eyes travelled the length of his body starting from the shoulders down his torso and towel wrapped waist and back up to the pools of liquid silver that were his eyes.

She gulped and stared at him, unable to look away. Instead she felt compelled to get closer, so she stepped forward towards his motionless form. He stood like a statue as she approached, hardly daring to breathe as she got closer and closer with small soundless steps. She finally stood before him, still staring straight into his eyes before her gaze flickered down over his torso again. He held still as her hand reached forward to follow her eyes, her fingers tracing lines over his right shoulder and chest, down to his waist. Her eyes shot back up to his and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.

"Draco." She whispered softly, her fingers still tracing patterns on his skin.

He bowed his head, breaking eye contact to hide his emotions. Her gaze jumped once again to his chest and she traced the scars again making goosebumps break out over his skin.

"Who did this?" She questioned as she examined the intricate white lines that covered his right side.

"Harry." He croaked softly. "When he used sectrumsempra."

Hermione gasped her hand darting to her mouth and her feet taking her back a few steps. "Harry did this?"

Draco nodded, "He didn't mean to, he didn't know what the spell did, or so I was told. But still scar's don't fade, whether he meant to do it or not."

Hermione ducked her head. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

He shook his head, "The past is the past. I don't think about it anymore. The scars are ugly, but there is no getting rid of them, so I move on."

"No." Hermione shook her head slowly. "No they are not ugly. They are almost beautiful. They speak of pain and sacrifice, but they speak also of the peace it brought. There is nothing ugly about those scars."

Draco rolled his eyes. "They are scars Hermione, pretty words won't change that."

Hermione paused, then lifted the hem of her shirt up turning her back to Draco as her top revealed the pattern that was permanently etched into her skin. She heard him make a slight noise of distress but did not turn to see his expression as he viewed the scar that spread like a spider web across her lower back.

"Who did this?" He growled.

She was shocked to hear the raw anger in his voice, flinching a little when his hand came in contact with the small of her back.

"Bellatrix." Hermione answered evenly. "I believe you were there for that one."

Draco winced as he remembered the torture his Aunt had put her through when she had been a prisoner in his home.

"Everyone has scars from the war, Draco, whether they are mental scars or physical." She pulled her top back down, turning to face him again.

His expression was tumultuous, as though he was unsure how he was suppose to act. She smiled, to set him at ease, knowing he wanted to apologise even though it was not his fault.

Blaise choose that moment throw open the door to the bathroom, entering the room dressed exactly like Draco, in nothing but a towel. Hermione bit back a groan_. 'What was wrong with men? Why couldn't they keep their clothes on?'_

"Hermione?" Blaise gazed at her in surprise, his eyes flicking to Draco quickly and back to her. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione blushed. "Um..."

Blaise raised an eyebrow and turned to his friend instead. "Draco?"

Malfoy shrugged. "She was looking for you, we just bumped into each other, Miss Granger here apparently doesn't knock."

Hermione's blush deepened, "I'm going down stairs, both of you, please join me when you are more presentable."

She spun on her heel and marched out, leaving two extremely good looking males in towels to share a questioning glance.

XXXXX

Hermione sat on the couch by the fire with a cup of tea and her notebook, she had been writing in it all day and now she went over her ideas. She had compiled two pages of compounded writing by the time she heard footsteps on the stairs. Glancing up she tried to keep her emotions under control. Draco strutted down the stairs, his black jeans were slung low on his hips and his muscle bound torso twisted as he pulled his green shirt up over his shoulders. She shook her head quickly trying to banish the thoughts in her mind. What was wrong with her? Sure she liked guys but she never got this caught up and distracted by the sight of a sexy body.

And it's Draco Malfoy for Merlin's sake. Malfoy was not in any way a suitable option for admiring or fantasizing. She gave him a polite nod eyes going back to her book. He flopped onto the couch across from her, leaving his shirt open with a smirk at her withdrawn face. She rolled her eyes but kept writing waiting until she heard the stairs squeak softly, she glanced up to see Blaise doing up his own shirt.

'_What is wrong with them, can't they keep their clothes on!' _She tried not to glare at him. _'I mean what would they think if I walked around half dressed?' _She paused at that and shook herself mentally. _'Never mind.'_

Blaise sat next to Draco, settling himself far more gracefully then his friend.

"Hermione." He started. "What did you need to talk about?"

Hermione closed her notebook, "Well I assume you still wanted my opinion on the quidditch team, plus I wanted to talk to you about this dance."

Draco leaned forward, face almost instantly becoming business like, "Quidditch first?"

She hid a smile "Of course."

He jumped up, taking two quick strides to Blaise's desk and back again. He thumped a book of parchment on the coffee table, "That's the notes from the try-outs. What can you do with it?"

Hermione smirked. "Sit back and watch the expert boys."

She snatched up the notes and did a fast read of the five chaser's Draco had selected other than Blaise. She evaluated the different skill's they possessed then turned back to Draco. She tapped a name on the page.

"This girl, how does she get on with you two?"

Draco glanced at the name and shrugged. "Fine, she's just a third year, haven't had much to do with her."

"Blaise?"

The silent Italian frowned, "She is ok, but she does not get on very well with any of the other potential team members."

Hermione nodded and ignored the surprised looks Draco gave his friend.

"This guy?" She tapped another Chasers name. "What's the deal with him?"

Draco grinned, "He's a good player, a bit on the feminine side but he's ok, easy to deal with."

She turned again to Blaise.

"People like him, he would get on well with anyone on the team. He also has no other extracurricular activities."

"Good so you now have another chaser. I suggest your last one be this girl, Calista, she's light, fast and you always need a girl chaser." Hermione ticked her name.

"What?" Draco spluttered. "What's her being a girl got to do with it?"

Hermione gave him a condescending look. "The most notable Quidditch teams throughout history all have one thing in common, which is one female Chaser. Female's are known to see the bigger picture, they are far more likely to be able to invent and adapt strategy mid game. Plus I know Calista, she's smart."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "And how is it that you know a Slytherin 6th year, on a first name basis no less?

"Hermione use to tutor her." Blaise replied quietly, "She needed help in Charms and Hermione offered her services."

"And how did you know that?" Hermione questioned.

"She told me."

Draco and Hermione exchanged looks.

"Why?" Draco drawled.

Blaise sighed. "Because I was the only one who would listen. Nobody wanted to hear how annoying and pompous Hermione was. And once she got to know Hermione, everybody just got angry when Calista tried to explain how helpful she was."

Hermione smiled, "Cal said that?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Who cares, she's on the team. The other two can be backup's, move on to the Beaters."

Hermione just grinned at him and observed the information written for the Beaters. "Just three?"

Draco shrugged, "All the others sucked."

Hermione stared at him.

"What? They did, those three are the only ones worth using, anyone else would just hinder rather than help."

Hermione sighed, "Fear enough."

She immediately pointed to one, "This Mark guy should defiantly be on the team, he far surpasses the others."

Draco nodded, "Yea he was on the team before. I want him on. It's Patrick Colinix I'm worried about, he's the guy I was telling you about he's good, and I don't think the other kid matches up in skill, but no one likes Colinix, he's a regular arsehole."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You can talk."

Blaise snickered and Draco scowled, "No you don't understand. He struts around like he owns the place, flirts with anything with boobs, sneers at anyone who he thinks he's is "below" him." He bunny eared the below. "Honestly, he gets on my nerves, I mean where did he learn that?"

Blaise and Hermione exchanged a look and then Hermione cracked up, Blaise soon followed suit and Draco glared at them as they laughed.

"Shut up." He snarled.

But Hermione couldn't stop she was half hysterical at the absolute absurdity of it all and when she glanced up to see Blaise also laughing it just sent her into fits again. Slowly the laughter wore off and she became a wear of Blaise's deep rumbling laugh, the sound sent waves of shivers through her. Its huskiness suited Blaise to the ground, and she found herself wishing he laughed more often.

Slowly she calmed herself and Blaise also regained his composure, Draco was sitting back in his seat, arms crossed and scowl locked firmly in place.

"Are you done?" He snarled when they looked at him.

Blaise sighed, but instead of answering he turned to Hermione, obviously implying she would have a better chance of appeasing him.

Hermione sighed internally. "Draco, face it, you just described a younger version of yourself. You were exactly the same at that age. You were arrogant, annoying and thought you were God's gift to woman. And to be honest you still do. It's just you got old enough to realise you're not always right. He hasn't got to that stage yet."

There was silence then Draco sighed and un-folded his arms. "Ok fine. But I don't want him on the team."

Hermione shrugged. "So don't put him on the team. The other guy just needs a bit of practise, he'll get there."

Draco shrugged. "Fine, now let's move to the Keeper. I've only got three of those two."

"That's fine." Hermione mused, already reading from the book.

She read and re-read his notes on the three Keepers before turning back to Draco. "Really Drake, there's no competition. This Donovan guy is the only worthwhile Keeper you've got."

He winced, "Yeah ok fine."

"Is there something wrong with Donovan?"

Draco shrugged, "No, he just gets on my nerves. He's a winey little shit."

Hermione sighed, "Who cares. He can play and as long as he's not going to cause problems it doesn't matter how he acts."

Draco shrugged, "Whatever. Thanks Hermione." He held out his hand for the book and she passed it over hesitantly.

"What about the reserve Seeker?"

He shook his head, "I've found one."

Hermione smiled. "Great. Then I need to talk to both of you about this dance, I've asked Ginny and Dean to meet with me tomorrow. If your free it would be great if you could come to..."

They talked until late and once again Blaise carried Hermione to her bed, tucking her in before retiring to his own room.

XXXX

**That's all for now guys. Hope you enjoy. For those interested there is a new Hogwarts RPG site just started up. www . hogwartschange . formotion . com without the space's. Take a look. **


	18. dragging time

**A.N Hey guys next chapter. Shout out to HotWolfGirl for giving me my 100****th**** review. Also please, please take a look at the new harry potter RPG site. www . hogwartschange . formotion . com they need a lot of new and willing members. If you're interested you should most definitely take the time to check it out. I would also like to say that the pairing for this story is not set, it will not definitely end up to be Blaise, could be someone else.**

**Chapter 17: Dragging time**

Hermione awoke groggily, gazing round her room in confusion. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered she and Blaise were finalising some plans for the dance, so they would be ready to present to members of the staff. She rolled over to face her window and noticed rather distinctive daylight shining though the curtains. Sitting bolt upright she let out a gasp and snatched her watch from the bedside table. She was late!

Throwing her covers off Hermione stumbled to the bathroom, slamming the door to Blaise's room shut and hurling herself into the shower. After a frantic wash, combined with brushing her teeth at the same time and she had managed to cut her preparation time in half. She launched herself back into her room, scrambling to dry herself and drag on underwear. She shoved her legs into jeans and grabbed a random seat of robes from her wardrobe. Gathering up all the books for the day she crammed them into her bag, glad she was organised enough to leave everything in a neat pile on her desk so she didn't waste time finding the right books.

Flicking her wand to do up her hair in a messy bun, she leaped though the door to the stairs, racing down them while trying to pull on her robes. She was across the common room and almost through the portrait when an arm caught her securely around the waste, picking her up and spinning her off her chosen course. Her bag thumped to the floor and she gasped as she was placed back on the ground, now facing the stairs from which she cam. Rather dizzy she gazed up at her captor and came face to face with Blaise.

"Blaise, look I'm sorry but I'm in a rush, I'll talk later ok, I just slept in and I really need to get to breakfast or there will be no way I will get through the day." She said it all in one breath and immediately spun to leave.

She was foiled again as an olive skinned arm caught her around the middle and this time he pulled her against him, keeping her feet off the ground. The warmth of his skin against hers caused her breath to hitch.

"Blaise!" she choked out.

"Hermione." He answered calmly. "I think you should take a minute to gather you're self before you leave this room."

"Why? I'll only become later!"

"Because, Hermione, you're about to leave this room with only a bra on." His voice was tinged with amusement.

She glanced down at herself and realised that the warmth of his skin was so warm because there was nothing between her and it. A blush fired into her checks, burning into mind. He set her feet on the ground and she wished she could sink further still into the floor. Her arms wrapped around her torso, pulling her robe over the bear skin. He smirked softly and flicked his wand, summoning a blouse from her room. He handed the garment to her and raised his hands to her face. Brushing her pink checks with his thumbs he smiled before slipping his hands down, over her soft neck, to her shoulders.

She gazed at him, incapable of movement as he pulled her robe down her shoulders his palms trailing heat down her arms in the wake of the material. The robes came off her suddenly relaxed arms and he folded it over his forearm. Watching his every move but unable to process this new turn of events, Hermione instead stayed frozen, even as his hand reached toward her waist. His thumb just barely grazed her hip, causing goosebumps to ripple across her stomach. His hand wrapped around the blouse, pulling it gently from her grasp. Reaching behind her he slipped the blouse slowly up her body, his own chest, bared by an unbuttoned shirt, almost touched hers and the space in-between crackled with energy. The blouse came to rest on her shoulders and he rested his hands there a few seconds before he moved to the first button. Slowly but surely he did up the blouse, never breaking his eye contact with the shocked head girl. The last button slide into place and his hands brushed her hips before he pulled back and handed her the robes.

"Now, is that not a more acceptable state of dress for the Head Girl?" He smirked at her and winked. "See you later, Hermione."

It was only when the door snapped closed behind him that Hermione came to her senses.

"I'm still late!" She cried, snatching up her bag.

She flung the door open and sprinted out, making her way to the great hall in record timing. Her friends glanced up in some concern as a flustered and breathless Hermione flopped into the seat they had left for her. Dean handed her a cup of water and she skulled it back.

"You ok Hermione?" Harry questioned worriedly.

She nodded, piling her plate. "Yeah I slept in, I didn't want to be late."

There was a moment of silence and then her friends burst into laughter, she gave them a quick grin before starting to eat. Yet when they weren't looking she couldn't help flicking a glance to the Slytherin table. Blaise immediately caught her eye and raised his glass to her in solute, she looked away quickly and ducked her head to hide the blush that once again stained her cheeks.

"Hey ,Hermione?' Ginny's voice pushed its way past the swirling idea's in her head.

"Yea?" Hermione brought her head up. "What's up?"

"Um I don't want to make you angry or anything, but you know you have a free period this morning right?"

There was a moment of silence then Hermione's head hit the table, a muffled giggle came from her right, no doubt Ginny trying to be discrete.

"Kill me now." Hermione sighed, latching on to her friends arm.

Ginny gave up on being quiet and laughed out loud, causing the other's to crack up with her. But when Hermione looked back up at her closest girl friend Ginny's laughter died. Hermione's eyes were filled with horror, mortification and confusion and Ginny wasn't stupid enough to think that being late was the cause.

She was on her feet immediately, pulling Hermione with her, "Let's get you back to your room, I'll help you get yourself sorted out for the day."

Hermione smiled softly at her, grateful for the understanding.

"I'll come with you." Dean offered, starting to stand.

"No." Ginny interrupted him quickly, "Um, why don't you come once breakfast is over, I'll need some time to get Hermione's hair sorted." She speared a glance for the messy bun that had become tangled in her frantic dash for the great hall. "Come on 'Mione, well see you guys later."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Once in the safety of Hermione's room Ginny was told the whole story from that morning well fixing Hermione's hair.

"So then he just left." Hermione finished somewhat bluntly. "And then I ran to breakfast and now here we are."

Ginny paused a moment in her styling, hands still wrapped in strands of hair. "Well, that's some improvement at least."

"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned as Ginny continued her actions.

"Well a few months ago you couldn't even get you in a room with a Slytherin. Now you're letting one touch you intimately." She wiggled her nose suggestively, making Hermione laugh and hit her gently on the leg.

Ginny laughed and twisted away from the slap giving Hermione's hair a slight tug in response. "Don't move," She commanded, "You'll wreck your hair."

Hermione smiled and watched in the mirror as Ginny put the finishing touches on her hair. The once scruffy mess had been tamed and pinned into a stylish bun, with soft curls framing her face.

"Gin you're a life saver. Thanks."

Ginny grinned. "You welcome, now let's get down stairs for this top secrete meeting, I'm dying to know what this is all about."

Hermione rolled her eyes put lead her friend from the room, letting a random topic flow between them pleasantly while they waited for the boys. Dean was the first to arrive, bag slung carelessly over his shoulder and tie askew.

"Hey guys, nice hairdo 'Mione, it suits you."

She blushed slightly as he sat next to her, "Thanks, Ginny's a creative genius. Hence the reason she's here."

Ginny flapped her hand and grinned, "No autographs, please."

Dean laughed easily, you never would have guessed they had gone through a turbulent breakup at one point, they got alone just fine as friends. The next few minutes was filled with mindless conversation until the portrait swung open, revealing Draco and Blaise.

Blaise couldn't resist the knowing smirk he sent to Hermione. To her credit, she didn't blush, merely raising an eyebrow at the Head Boy. Draco flopped down on the seat next to Hermione, laying a casual arm across the back of the couch. Blaise shrugged and seated himself graceful next to Ginny, directly across from Hermione.

"So, let's get started." Draco drawled, "We're planning a dance, for new years."

"Draco!" Hermione abolished.

"What?" He shrugged, stretching out his long legs and propping them up on the coffee table. "We were going to tell them anyway, what's the problem?"

Hermione sighed and shock her head, slapping his legs. "Feet off the table." She commanded, absently.

Draco rolled his eyes but didn't remove his feet, "Woman." He said, smirking at Dean and Blaise.

"Feet off!" Hermione snapped, booting him in the shins and sending his feet crashing to the ground.

"Hey!" Draco glared at her. "What's your problem, you crazy witch!"

Dean laughed and Hermione smirked. "It's unhygienic that's what." She informed him, arms crossed and her nose in the air.

Ginny smiled but quickly interjected their argument. "What was this about a dance?"

"Oh right." Hermione hands relaxed into her lap. "As Draco just blurted out, we are planning a dance, for New Years. Professor Mc Gonagall wanted us to come up with a house unifying activity and that's what we came up with."

"Waste of time if you ask me." Draco drawled. "It's obvious we will never get along."

He quickly dodged Hermione's hand and it skimmed his hair rather than landing a blow on the back of his head.

"What is your problem woman!"

"Shut up!" She answered crossly.

Blaise snickered causing Draco to scowl at him and Hermione to shake her head.

"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, the dance is going to promote inter-house unity. So instead of asking someone to the dance you will be partnered up when you enter the hall." She paused and surveyed her friends. Both nodded to show they agreed so far and she continued. "It will also be a masquerade, so you won't know who your partner is and they will be unable to tell you until the last dance. That way you're more likely to interact if it's someone you either don't like or is in the wrong house."

Ginny grinned. "This sounds great, but where do we come in?"

"I need you guys to help with decorative plans, you're the two most artistic people I know." Hermione smiled at them hopefully, ignoring Draco's snort of contempt.

"Of course we will help." Dean answered for the both of them and Ginny nodded in agreement. "You hardly needed to ask. So, other than masquerade, what was the theme?"

There was a pause and Hermione glanced at Blaise who cleared his throat.

"Well, you see that's why we held this meeting, we have absolutely no idea." Blaise deadpanned.

Ginny laughed, a pretty, slightly husky sound that made Hermione smile and Dean's eyes to soften slightly. "Let the geniuses' go to work." She announced, cracking her fingers.

Dean grinned and snagged a piece of parchment and a quill. True to word, he and Ginny went to work straight away, leaving the other three to sit back and watch while they mumbled and argued quietly together. Hermione shifted awkwardly then glanced at Draco and Blaise, who seemed to be having some kind of silent conversation.

"Tea?" She asked hopefully, wanting something to do, other than watch people talk.

"Milk, no sugar." Draco replied easily, leaning back in his seat and letting his hand brush her shoulder.

Hermione stood quickly, unsure if the contact had intentional or accidental. "Blaise?" She questioned.

He stood, "I will help you."

He followed her silently into the kitchen and she tried to suppress flush that rose in her cheeks. Try as she might she could not rid her mind of the scene from that morning and she struggled to keep her emotions under control as she put the kettle on boil and reached to get cups from the cupboard.

"Allow me." Blaise murmured, and reached up past her stretching fingers to pull mugs from the shelf. "I'm somewhat taller than you." He informed her as he placed them on the bench top effectively trapping her between him and the counter.

"Thank you." Hermione mumbled softly, eyes on the ground well she tried to calm her beating heart.

"Hermione?" Blaise's fingers found her chin and he gently tilted her face up till their eyes met.

"What?" She half gasped.

"I-"

"Will you turn the kettle off!" Draco yelled from the other room. "The noise is killing my delicate ears!"

Hermione scrambled away from Blaise and stanched the kettle from the stove, silencing its incessant whistling. She busied herself making the tea, effectively ignoring Blaise. The quiet Italian seemed somewhat flustered and only spoke again to thank her when she hand him his mug. He followed her quietly back into the kitchen as she carried a tray of tea back to the others.

"Why do you bother making them the muggle way when it's quicker with magic?" Draco questioned as she passed him his cup.

"It tastes better when it's made properly." Hermione informed him tartly as she placed tea in front of Dean and Ginny. The two offered her grateful smiles before turning back to their planning.

"It doesn't." Draco objected taking a sip. His face was instantly transformed into an expression of surprise. "I take that back, this taste's amazing."

Hermione grinned wirily, "Thanks." She drawled, taking her seat next to him.

His arm immediately fell around her shoulders, draping her in the strange warmth guys seemed to produce. She shifted uncomfortably and turned to take him to task only to be interrupted by Ginny.

"Done!" She announced suddenly, making Draco start.

"Finally." Dean crowed, dragging Hermione from her seat. "You'll love it." He informed her, spinning her around giddily before pulling her against his chest so she was facing the room. "Imagine this." He spread an arm before them dramatically. "Everywhere there are glowing crystals, giving of multi-facetted light, the hall is covered in them and so are the stair ways and corridors along the paths there. The doors to the hall are open before you and when you look inside you see-"

"A beautiful, royal ballroom." Ginny interjected excitedly. "There are drapes, chandeliers, and the whole room is lit by the crystals. Every female is a masked princess and every male a handsome prince. There's a live orchestra for music and even thrones on a dais."

Dean took over again. "Balconies can be made on one side of the hall, overlooking beautiful gardens with the moonlight night above. And the other side of the hall can have comfortable little nooks for people to sit, rest and chat."

"One question." Draco interrupted. "What was the colour scheme?"

"Red and Gold." They answered in unison, as though it was obvious and Hermione grimaced slightly.

"You're joking?" Draco scowled. "Are you mad? Only a quarter of this school are Gryffindor's I'll have you know and I can assure you that-Mphf!"

Hermione's hand clapped over his mouth before he could continue, effectively cutting off his rant.

"He's right, they rest of the school won't be very happy with Gryffindor colour's only. This is supposed to be a unifying-" She squealed suddenly, yanking her hand from Draco's mouth and wiping it on her robes. "That's disgusting!"

Draco smirked. "Keep your hands to yourself next time then."

She gave him a withering look and turned back to the two artists. "The colour scheme will have to change."

"How about green and silver." Draco suggested cheekily.

The other four ignored him.

"We need neutral colours." Blaise mused.

"White." Dean offered.

"Purple?" Was Ginny's suggestion.

"White and purple could work." Hermione mused. "It wouldn't be to girly?"

"Yes it would." Draco answered, only to be ignored again.

"Maybe," Blaise mused, "Unless it was a very dark purple."

"That could work." Dean agreed.

"We can discuss colour later, let's plan layout first."

The rest of the period was spent on planning and only Draco's reminder of the time had them rushing to their next class of the day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next few weeks were very busy for Hermione and Blaise, every spare moment that was not dedicated to increasingly difficult homework assignments was used to plan the dance. They held frequent meetings with Draco, Dean or Ginny to help hash out details and yet they still seemed so far from the final product.

They had held an interview with Professor's Slughorn, Sprout, Hall and Flitwick, as they were the head's of each house and all, except the rather hawkish Professor Hall, thought the idea to a fun and inventive way to promote inter-house unity. So they worked to all hours of the night, trying to come up with decorations that would please the whole school. Unfortunately this is not as easy as it sounds and Hermione found herself with many late nights, early mornings and constant headaches with nothing to show for it. Hermione was getting frustrated and her impatience was beginning to show.

"This is ridiculous!" Hermione threw a sheath of parchment across the room into her rubbish bin and pushed her fingers through her hair. With a growl of annoyance she flipped into her stomach, laying her check on her pillow. _'Why is it so difficult to concentrate?' _she wondered tiredly_. 'I've been going over the same thing for the last hour and it hasn't made any difference.'_

She hulled her tired body from her bed and gathered her things. Lunch was almost over and she had to get to her second to last class of the day. As she trudged from the room on the way to Herbology she thanked Merlin that it was Friday. Tomorrow she could sleep for longer than four hours. Her solo march to class was soon joined by an equally tired looking Draco.

"Granger." He acknowledged as he joined her.

"Hey." Was all that she managed back, too tired to care about how flat she sounded.

They walked on silently, neither up for conversation or anything more taxing than the shuffling walk that slowly brought them closer to their destination. Upon reaching the rest of their class, a hair's breath before the ball rang, they separated to their differing groups of friends and proceeded to try not to fall asleep. Hermione propped herself up on Harry's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her for support.

"You look terrible." He mumbled in her ear as Professor Sprout began to talk.

"Thanks." She grinned sleepily up at him, "You should see the other guys." Her arm swept to draw attention to Draco and Blaise, both half asleep well leaning against the wall.

Harry snorted at the sight but almost immediately turned back to Hermione. "Seriously 'Mione, your falling asleep on your feet."

"Am not." Hermione argued, her eyes closed as she tried to listen to the lesson.

Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing as he started taking word for word notes, knowing how upset Hermione would be if she missed out on the information. Ron was strangely silent, seemingly content to watch Hermione with a soft smile and nothing more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Somehow Hermione made it through not only Herbology but Charms as well though she had to confess that if Harry hadn't been there she wouldn't have made it through the first one, let alone the second. He was by her side the whole time, poking her awake, taking notes, repeating what the teacher's had said and generally keeping her from a dramatic fail. He and Ron even helped her to dinner as she was too tired to even walk properly.

Dean frowned as Harry and Ron deposited her on a seat opposite him and sat on either side of her. He studied the heavy bags under her eyes and the glazed look that masked their spark. He shook his head but didn't speak as Ron filled Hermione's plate and Harry placed a fork in her hand.

"Eat." Harry commanded gently and she smiled at him gratefully.

"Thanks guys." She mumbled before she dug in.

Dean's angry expression lightened somewhat when colour flooded her pale face almost immediately. It seemed she was eating well enough, all she need was sleep and she would be as good as new. Dean vowed to make sure she went to bed early that night if it was the last thing he did.

Hermione wondered just what she had done to deserve such loving friends. They had carried her though the whole day, figuratively and literally, and made sure she got though. Harry had even handed her a copy of his perfectly written and extensively detailed notes from her last two classes. She couldn't remember the last time Harry had even taken notes in class, let alone good ones. He had learnt early that no matter what he did Hermione's notes would always be better, but he had done it for her and, from what she could tell, he had done it perfectly.

She smiled somewhat disjointedly as she ate her food, relishing the taste as well as the nutrients it gave her. She could almost feel it refuel her and her hazy mind managed to fight away some of the mist that encumbered it. She made her way through the mound of food faster than Ron and sat back with a satisfied sigh when she was done.

Dean ginned and stood. "Alright Sleeping Beauty, let's get you up to bed." He came around to her side of the table and offered a hand.

Hermione glanced at it then back at the others. "Did you guys mind?"

Harry laughed and shook his head. "Go on Hermione, we don't mind finishing dinner without you."

She smiled and kissed both him and Ron on the check before taking Dean's hand. "Thanks guys." She murmured as she was lead away.

XXXXX

**Hope you guys enjoyed, please review for once. I'm getting very few these days.**

**Wildcat**


	19. Tired Days

**A.N I got tones more views this time round, thanks. Ok next chapter guys. I'm getting really excited now, remember even I don't know what's going to happen next. Enjoy.**

Chapter 18: Tired days

Dean half carried Hermione through the portrait laughing at her tired grumbles about how she could walk by herself. Yet her continued efforts to do so proved the opposite and she had to rely on Dean's sturdy frame to bear her weight. His laughter was cut short when a figure stood from a chair by the fire as they entered and he scowled at the intrusion.

"Theo!" Hermione chirped happily. "What are you doing here?"

She went to walk towards the boy and stumbled ungracefully instead. Theo caught her with a laugh, saving her from a nasty fall to the ground.

"Hermione." He greeted cheerfully, "How nice to see you so alive and energetic. You're simply radiant."

She poked her tongue out at him, but was too tired to do any more. "If all you're going to do is tease me then leave me alone Mister Nott, I am too tired for jokes." She smiled up at him to let him know she was actually glad to see him.

"Now now, Miss Granger, that's no way to talk to a friend who you have been too busy to spend time with for the last three weeks." He wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her upright.

She made a face and leaned into his warm embrace. "I've been busy." She mumbled. "Being Head Girl isn't all fun and games it would seem." She yawned widely.

"You need your sleep, 'Mione." Dean interrupted, "You really should go get into bed."

Hermione sighed and nodded. "Your right, thank Merlin its Saturday tomorrow."

Theo laughed easily. "I'm sorry Hermione but I'm going to need you to stay awake for a few more minutes."

Dean frowned. "Can't it wait until tomorrow, Nott?"

Theo didn't even bother to look at him, let alone answer. "Come on, Hermione. How about I drag you up the stairs, give you this marvellous little potion I have with me, let you get changed into your PJ's and then you can snuggle up in bed well I talk with you for a few minutes." He grinned waving a tiny beaker of bright red liquid in her face.

"What's that?" Dean questioned suspiciously.

Theo glanced up at him, "It's a milder form of the Pepper-Up Potion, it will not only keep her a wear for a half hour but it will also give her immune system a substantial boost so she doesn't risk sickness well she's so run down."

Dean blinked, surprise temporarily muting him and Theo made quick use of his silence.

"Come on Hermione, say good night to Thomas and well go get you snuggled up all warm in bed." She swept her up into his strong arms, cradling her bridal style.

It was testament to how tired Hermione was that she didn't object; instead she tucked her head into Theo's shoulder and yawned, wrapping soft arms around his neck as he smiled down at her.

"Night, Dean" She mumbled sleepily. "Thanks for helping me get here, I'll see you tomorrow some time."

Dean stared after them as Theo made his way up the stairs with his delicate burden, he could think of no other excuses as to why Theo should leave, and all he knew was that he wanted the slime Slytherin as far away from Hermione as possible. Instead he was forced to watch as the creep carried Hermione off to his room, closed the door and left him standing in the cold common room. He sighed, running his hands over his face in a display of tiredness and finally left the room unsure if Hermione was in safe hands or not. There was nothing more he could do for Hermione tonight.

Hermione was currently in the connecting bathroom, with the door closed, struggling to make her tired limbs function enough to change into her PJ's. She had stripped off her clothes just fine, but now she was having trouble balancing long enough to get her Pyjama pants on. Leaning against the sink she clutched its edge with one hand and pulled the pants half on with the other, before switching feet to do the same. Smiling in triumph she yanked the pants up, happy to have finally managed something though her bone deep weariness. In the back of her mind she mused whether she had ever been this tired before, even when she had Voldimort and his lackeys to think of. She thought maybe not. Pulling a big baggy top over her head and flicking her hair out from under the collar completed her task and she let herself back into the other room where Theo was perched comfortably on her bed.

"All done?" Theo questioned brightly, far too awake for Hermione's liking.

She flopped down next to him, face down and let lose a sigh, content to fall asleep right then and there. She probably would have already done so if she hadn't known that Theo needed to talk. "Mmm." She answered instead.

Theo laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. Here." He held out the red potion. "Drink this, it will make you feel better."

She looked at it wirily and he wiggled it teasingly.

"Come on, Granger, I dare you."

That, to his surprise, did the trick. Snatching the vile she flicked off the lid with a soft pop, catching it in her other hand with an easy that surprised Theo and drank the potion in one gulp. There was a moment of unique silence and then a hot flush flowed into Hermione's cheeks, filling her with a very strange feeling.

"Wow." She whispered and a puff of steam floated from her mouth.

Theo chuckled. "It's not as potent as a pepper-up potions but it will keep you up for the next few minutes, just long enough for you to hear me out and then you will get the best sleep of your life."

Hermione pondered this statement with a newly clear mind but chose not to comment on the oddness of his phrasing.

"Well ok. What can I help you with, Theo?"

"Ah see I'm not here to get help, I'm here to help you." Theo winked charmingly. "You and Blaise have been running yourself into the ground with everything you have to do these days. So I've come up with a solution."

That caught Hermione's interest and she made a go on gesture with her hand.

"You and Blaise need to remove yourselves from the step by step planning of the ball, and to do that you need a ball committee." Theo grinned when she made a surprised noise. "You and Blaise can pull out and in your place you can have a group do the planning and come to you only for approval and big decisions. And before you ask, yes, I have thought about the group. You've already got Draco for Slytherin and Dean and Ginny for Gryffindor. So why not have three people from each house working together, it will even help with the unity thing you're suppose to be working on. I'd suggest one if not both of the Greengrass girl's for the Slytherin part. They would go nicely with this kind of thing."

Hermione's brain spun into action, no longer sluggish from sleep. "Daphne is a must. She would be brilliant for this kind of thing. What about you? Did you want to be on the team?"

Theo hurriedly shock his head, "No way, this isn't my kind of thing. Draco's got all the class and poise you need. I would be a disaster. Get Astoria instead, she needs to start mingling anyway, Daphne is worried she's turning into a hermit."

Hermione shrugged, "Ok Astoria it is. Lavender will be the last Gryfindor. As for Ravenclaw, well Padma would be perfect. Luna is quirky, she will add some fun to it all. And I will need a guy..." She wrinkled her nose at the thought of the Ravenclaw boys. "I might ask Ginny if there are any good ones in her year."

Theo barked out a laugh, having never been fond of the Ravenclaw males either.

Hermione grinned back at him and continued. "Well Hannah and Susan would be perfect and Ernie will keep order. And that will be perfect. Oh Theo, you're a genius, why didn't I think of something like this? Oh now I've got lots of things I can plan to make things better. You've given me lots of idea's."

Theo chuckled, "Well those idea's will have to wait for morning. That potion will run out in..." He glanced at his watch. "Now."

Hermione blinked in surprise as the bone deed tiredness came rushing back, almost flattening her onto the bed. Theo grinned and stood to help her under the covers of the bed, tucking her in nicely.

"Night Theo." She mumbled, suddenly over come with tiredness.

"Good night Hermione." He whispered as her eyes drifted closed and he bent to kiss her check, causing a slight murmur of confusion to come from the already sleeping female.

Theo paused and smiled sadly down at her, his eyes filled with unreadable emotions and a deep sigh passed thru his lips. He left quickly, not even noticing Dean who hid in the shadows outside of the common room entrance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione awoke late the next day feeling more alive and motivated than she had in weeks, she smiled as she showered and dressed. She was down in the great hall a few minutes later, just catching the end of breakfast. Surprisingly, all of her friends had waited for her and Ginny had even gathered the people she had decided on as well as a 6th year Ravenclaw Hermione couldn't remember the name of. Blaise sat in the middle of the gathered Slytherin's and Hermione couldn't help raising an eyebrow at them all.

"Theo talked to me." Ginny explained and Hermione grinned.

"It figures." She sat and pulled so food towards her. "Well did Theo also tell you what your all here for?"

Ginny shock her head easily and Hermione nodded, munching her toast before explaining. It took a half hour to lay down all the details and after that Hermione was forced to tell some of her friends that they were not on the committee. Ron, Harry, Neville and Seamus didn't mind in the slightest but Parviti looked extremely put out. She was finally reconciled by Astoria who pointed out that she might as well just be on the committee any way seeing as how Lavender and Padma would talk to her about everything anyway. So Parviti was added and disaster was avoided. And Hermione had free time for the first time in weeks.

She was planning to spend it catching up on everything that would be due soon and so she went to the library. Surprisingly, all of the Gryffindor's followed her, apparently seventh year had them all on their toes. So it was almost lunch time when Hermione finally made her way back to the common room. Eager to have a small meeting with Blaise before it was time to eat. They needed to discuss a few more of the finer details on both the ball and other projects they had going, namely the Slytherin house happiness. It was with a rested mind and a happy smile that Hermione entered the situation that would horrify her for weeks to come. She was at her most venerable and completely un-prepared. And that was why it was so much of a shock, after all she should have known there was no such thing as a quiet relaxing weekend, not for her anyway.

Hermione pushed open the portrait letting it swing almost into the wall.

"Blaise!" She called loudly as she scrambled though, shoving her bag full of books ahead of her. "Do you have free time? I thought we could-" Her sentence died as she straightened and saw who was in the room.

"What the fuck?' She surprised even herself with her sudden profanity.

"Hermione." Blaise said, with a relaxed look on his face. "How nice of you to join us."

Hermione stood frozen surveying the room's occupants. Theo, Draco and Blaise were all there, and beside them were their mothers, Narcissa Malfoy included. Hermione started wordlessly at the six people, too shocked to even be amused at the extreme resemblances between each boy and his mother. Really, who knew all Slytherin guys were mummy's boys? Hermione gathered her courage and stepped forward, meeting Blaise's mothers interested gaze with a polite smile.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.

She took a deep breath and held out her hand, wondering if she was about to get a figurative slap, or even a literal one. Why couldn't her life have been boring?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Yea guys sorry its short. Didn't have much time for writing, enjoy, more will be coming.**


	20. Maternal

**A.N: I do apologise for the last extremely short chapter. I've been sick and distracted and not quiet with it. This one will be better I promise.**

Chapter 19: Maternal

There was a moment of extreme awkward silence in which Hermione almost withdrew her hand. She had hoped Blaise's mother would be more like him rather than the usual stuck up purebloods. The moment passed and his mother stepped forward, placing her thin hand in Hermione delicate one. She squeezed it gently, politely ignoring Hermione's shocked look.

"Hello Miss Granger, it is a pleasure to finally meat you." Her voice held a soft and exotic accent, though her strong tone of voice melded it into something more commanding. "I am Constance Zabini, I have heard much about you and you are just the person I wanted to see today."

Hermione was feeling extremely confused. It was fairly rare for parents to visit Hogwarts during the school year and almost unheard of to have pureblood parents come here at all. And for a pureblood parent to come to the school and claim to want a conversation with a muggleborn was just damn out of character. Before she could answer this absurd claim Theo's mother stepped forward, hand out and a smiled that mirrored her son's on her face.

"Hello Miss Granger, I'm Amelia, Amelia Nott." She shock Hermione's hand briskly, hazel eyes shining. "How lovely to finally meet you dear, I've heard so much about you."

Hermione gave her a week smiled, a little overwhelmed and very confused. She was saved from the need to speak by Narcissa Malfoy. The woman stepped forward face like a thunderstorm.

"Constance, Amy!" She snapped their names commandingly, causing both of their backs to stiffen. "We are not here to talk to her. Miss Granger, we would like to talk to our son's alone."

Her hand gestured to the door, a delicate flutter that did not hide her dismissal. Ms. Zabini turned to face her, back straight and face perfectly neutral. Well at least Hermione knew where Blaise got it from. Mrs. Nott just smiled easily at the two, as thought waiting for them to get it over with. Hermione was stuck in the middle, a look from Draco warned her not to move, but she was unsure of her place in this.

"Miss Granger, please stay." Ms. Zabini was not making a request, no matter how she phrased it and Hermione froze having just been about to leave. "Listen, _Cissy._" She hissed the woman's name viciously. "Miss Granger may just be our son's only hope to have any sort of happiness in their later life. If you don't want her help then fine, but _I_ will do everything in my power to assure that Blaise lives the life _he _wants. Not the life he is _told_ to live."

Narcissa frowned but made a motioning sign that told Ms. Zabini to continue. The woman smiled softly and turned back to Hermione, who still held a slight resemblance to a dear in the headlights.

"Miss Granger," Ms. Zabini started.

"Oh please," Hermione interrupted. "Call me, Hermione, Miss Granger is far too formal."

She ignored Theo's smile and Draco's eye roll, she didn't care how they were expected to act, she refused to be called by her last name. Ms. Zabini smiled slightly.

"Then I ask that you call me Constance, Hermione. It is far less tedious." Her smiled reminded her of Blaise and it relaxed Hermione slightly. "Now I came here for two reasons. One was to talk to my son about a grave new development at the Ministry and the other was to ask you for your help to stop it."

Hermione blinked in surprise as her accent voice was stained with sadness. She was quiet obviously upset, from what she knew of the woman, asking for help was not something she did on a regular basis, if ever. She frowned, what could Kingsley be doing that would upset a woman who was more in control of her emotions than even Blaise.

"The Ministry?" She questioned hesitantly. "What do you mean? What's wrong with the Ministry?"

A quick sound of protest cut off any answer Constance was about to make, but this time it was not the Italian woman who silenced Narcissa.

"Honestly Cissy!" Cried Mrs Nott. "Do you want to help Draco or not?"

Narcissa mouth closed and a sigh of defeat breezed from her suppressed lips. Constance took this as a sign to continue and turned back to Hermione.

"I've heard word that they are trying to pass a law, a Marriage Law." The woman got straight to the point.

"A what?" Hermione questioned in surprise.

"A Marriage Law, but one that will only affect Purebloods, and those they marry of course." Constance took a breath to continue but Hermione cut her off quickly.

"Wait, I'm afraid I don't understand. What is a Marriage Law?" Hermione was happy to note that all three of her year mates looked as stumped as she did, so she was safe to assume this wasn't common knowledge.

Constance sighed and gestured to the couches and armchairs. "Why don't we all site down and I will explain."

They all sat quickly and the chairs, as all ways morphed into a state that state that suited its user. Hermione tucked her legs under her as she faced Constance, this woman was obviously in charge and she was desperate to help in any way she could.

"A Marriage Law," Constance began. "Is exactly what it sounds like, a Law that forces you to marry. The Ministry are trying to pass a Law that will force all unmarried Purebloods, between the ages of seventeen and fifty, to marry someone of either half, or muggleborn bloodlines. They want to breed out all prejudice, and they want to do it as quickly as possible. If they pass this Law, all Purebloods who are in that age limit must wed within the year and produce a child within the next."

There was absolute silence as Constance's words sunk in. Hermione watch the three young men in the room grow pale and could not even summon a sliver of surprise as Draco clutched his mother to him in a hug. This was news enough to destroy all their worlds, she couldn't not blame him for reacting so. She stood, as though in a slight daze and realised that now all six of the Pureblood's were gazing at her with obvious hope, and that too she understood. All three women were widows, and all three of them had to be under the age of fifty. Their lives could be forcible changed, and not for the greater good.

"You're sure?" She questioned her voice breaking slightly.

Constance nodded, no longer being able to speak and Hermione's face hardened with a resolve that remind the six of how she looked last year, during the clean up. Her wand was out and her silver otter patronus was before her before they could blink. She whispered in its ear quickly and within seconds it had fled from the room. A second followed in its wake.

"Hermione?" A soft word made her turn, brown eyes still blazing with a fire they thought had long since died down to coals.

Draco stared up at her from his seat, his arms still tight around his distraught mother.

"Yes?" She questioned, mind already spinning with ideas.

"What are you going to do?" He asked, voice shaking, hardly daring to hope that she of all people would help them.

"I'm going to stop this madness."

It was only the pure determination in her voice that stopped him from voicing his doubt. After all, this was Hermione Granger, there wasn't much she couldn't do. Right? Any doubt was driven from their mind when a red faced Harry Potter burst through the portrait. He panted for a minute, obviously trying to catch his breath after a sprint from the Gryffindor common room, which was where he had been when her patronus found him. Hermione gave him no time to even speak, she had his hand in hers and was dragging him towards the fire before he could even breathe.

"Hermione what-?" He gasped as he tried to stop her. "I came as fast as I could, but what's going on?"

"We're going to see Kingsley, I'll explain on the way." She told him, grabbing a huge handful of Floo Powder from a jar on the mantel.

"Ok." It was a show of great friendship that Harry asked nothing more, he knew Hermione would have her reasons, just like he knew there was a reason she had asked him not to bring Ron.

Hermione threw the Floo Powder into the fire and Harry stepped with her into the emerald flames.

"The Ministry of Magic!" She cried.

They were gone in the blink of an eye leaving three very surprised families to stare at the fire she had just vacated.

"Well," Narcissa broke the silence. "You have to admit, she has some style that girl. She certainly gets things done."

"Don't count your salamanders before they hatch, Narcissa." Constance murmured, "She might yet fail."

"Have no fear mother." Blaise told his doubtful parent. "Hermione will get it done, she always gets what she wants in the end."

"Is that right?" Amy Nott spoke up, lips lifted in a cheeky grin. "I suppose we should all stay on her good side then, don't you think?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione and Harry spun into being in one of the Ministries large fireplaces. They stepped out of the grating far more elegantly than they had entered, both of their faces set with a firmness that attracted some attention. A flick of Hermione's wand had them clean of ash and another muffled their conversation from prying ears.

"Mind explaining what is going on now?" Harry asked calmly as he followed Hermione through the crowed.

"The ministry is trying to pass a Law." Hermione said simply, glaring at the guard when he would have stopped them and asked for their wands. "We are here to stop them."

"Of course." Harry said simply, no note of sarcasm in his voice. "And what is this Law about exactly?"

Hermione managed to explain the Law, down to its details, in the time it took to reach Kingsley's office. His secretary looked on in shock, mouth gapping like a fish as they strode past her, throwing open the door to his office easily, as though they had every right to be there. Kingsley, shocked at the intrusion met them with a raised wand, and yet it was he who paled slightly when faced with the two teen's united front.

"Harry, Hermione," He gasped in surprise. "What on in Merlin's name are you doing? You can't just burst in here like this, I have an important job to do. Could you not have owled me if you wanted to talk?"

"Shut up." Harry snapped, slamming and locking the door with his wand as Hermione warded and soundproofed the room.

"What's this about?" Kingsley asked, voice far more serious as he met Hermione's steely gaze. "What has happened?"

"A little bird came to me Shacklebolt." Hermione snapped, placing her hands on the desk as she glared. She surprised even herself with the use of his last name. "It told me of a Law that the Ministry is trying to pass, right under the public's nose, a Marriage Law. Do you know what I speak of?"

Kingsley's face hardened. "Who told you that? That's top secret information!"

"It doesn't matter who told me. I want to know if it's true." Hermione's voice, instead of rising with anger became even colder and Harry, who would not be forgotten, added his scowl to the mix, spinning his wand in his fingers.

Kingsley paused before deciding tact was more needful right now than force. "Yes it's true, some of my people, who are working on ways to help better the Wizarding world have been working on a marriage Law, that should hopefully target all of those that were on Voldimort's side." He paused and stared at them confused. "This is a good thing, I don't understand why you're angry."

"Don't understand?" Hermione started ice cold at his stupidity. "What, you just thought the sacrifices you would make would be for the greater good and so they could be ignored?"

"Sacrifices?" Kingsley growled, no longer happy with their intrusion. "What sacrifices? I don't-"

"The Purebloods who fought for _us_ in the war, Kingsley, those sacrifices!" Hermione's anger and hurt at his actions boiled over. "You would make Ron and Ginny wed strangers? Forced into a marriage they did not want. You would make the twins and Charlie settle down? You would make Neville, Lavender and Ernie marry someone they held no love for?"

"Of course not!" Kingsley roared, offend that she would think such of him. "That's not what this is about, it's made to only target those who supported HIM, no one else."

"That's not good enough." Hermione snapped. "You have no right, no matter who they fought for in the war. They are people, they have feeling and I will not let you force this on anyone. Whether they supported us or not."

Harry stepped forward quietly, anger radiating from him in waves. "I suggest you get whoever's working on this Law up here so they can explain themselves properly."

It took three minutes to get the three people responsible for this Law in the room. Hermione knew, because she timed it, her foot tapping all the while as Kingsley watched her, growing angrier with each tap. Finally the two men and the woman were there, all three looking both confused and anxious at the summons they had received. They watched Harry and Hermione in confusion, obviously wondering what they had to do with their jobs.

"What is this about Minster?" The woman questioned as she looked over her glasses at the two teens. "We were working on some rather pressing matters, will this take long?"

Kingsley's hard look shut her up.

"This is an extremely important mater which involves the work the three of you have been doing in regards to the Voldimort's supporters." Kingsley ignored the flinches at His name and continued, eye's hard. "I want to know everything you have come up with so far."

The slight pause was hurriedly filled by the woman. "Oh Minister, you know it's still very much in the planning stages." She smiled tightly, eyes trailing over Hermione and Harry. "And I think it would be best discussed, away from the ears of children, don't you think?"

There was a heavy silence to the air as Kingsley stared at the woman, eyes blazing in a way Hermione hadn't seen in almost a year. She sucked in a breath, mouth twisted in a slight smile as she waited. This was the Kingsley she knew and loved, she should have known he wouldn't do that to people.

"I don't think you under stood what I said, Mrs Bobkin." Kingsley said slowly, biting out each word as though they caused him pain. "I want you to tell me everything, Right NOW!"

The last word made the other two men jump and the woman pale at his rage. Kingsley was nothing if not intimidating, he knew how to get the job done.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It took three hours to squeeze all the details from the three ministry official's Harry and Hermione had taken over half way, using their own unique ways to extract information, Hermione with twisted logic and tact and Harry with pure will and determination. Finally all three interrogators' sat back, eyes and face's unreadable. Kingsley sighed and turned to Harry and Hermione.

He raised an eyebrow. "How would you like to proceed?"

Hermione leaned forward eyes hard as she glared at the three people in front of her. She twined her finger's together and propped them in front of her, unaware that she was making them extremely uncomfortable. She frowned at them, noticing the woman shifting in her seat.

"Firstly." Hermione snapped softly. "This Law, will be immediately abandoned. If I hear even a peep of it becoming real I will not hesitate to come back here and get every single one of you removed from the Ministry. This Law will not be passed!"

She paused, feeling Harry's hand on her shoulder, letting her know she needed to calm down. She took a deep calming breath, hardly noticing the pale complexions of the people in front of her. She ran a hand through her hair, organising her thoughts before continuing.

"Secondly, all idea's and Law's that are designed to help with the after effects of the war are to be cleared by Bill Weasley." She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping Bill would agree to be a liaison for her. "He will in turn, keep me updated on anything that will affect the younger generation so that I can decide for myself whether it is a valid idea or if it should be immediately abandoned. I refuse to let you ruin the lives of a whole generation who has already lost so much over the past 8 years."

She glanced at Kingsley, waiting to see if he would agree to her demands, she knew she was setting herself up for more work, when she was already struggling as it was. Kingsley nodded slowly, obviously thinking hard. There was a pause and then he turned to the three Ministry workers.

"That will be all, now leave, Miss Granger and I must have a meeting with Mr Weasley and go over arrangements, I will send you an owl with your orders later. Please go back to your work now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took another two hours of arrangements before everything was settled. Bill agreed to the extra work, as long as he could have Charlie help him and he assured Hermione he would keep everything in line for her. After all, she had just saved over half his family from an unfair law that could have ruined their lives. He had hugged her good bye and clapped Harry on the shoulder and finally they could leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione stumbled as she exited the fire in the common room, and only Harry's hand kept her upright. She smiled at him gratefully before turning to face the six occupants in the room. They were all still there, still waiting to hear if Hermione had saved them, or if they were doomed to live a life of misery.

Hermione turned to smile at them. "There's no need to worry the Law will never be passed."

She sat on the couch, massaging her temples to ride herself of the headache that had been growing behind her eyes. She knew it would take far more than what she had just done to set everything to rights, but she hoped that with Bill and Charlie's help she might be able to actually do some good. She offered the still seated family's another, more reassuring smile.

"I'm serious." She informed them. "You will not be forced to marry, nor shall you ever. I'll be working with the Ministry to make sure there is no repeat of this idea, or similar idea's. If there is, they won't get past the initial thought, I promise you that."

A brief silence followed her words and was quickly broken by Theo's whoop of joy. He jumped up, dragging his laughing mother with him dancing around the room. Constance allowed herself a small smile, giving her equally unemotional son a brief hug before turning to look at Narcissa. The blonde woman seemed slightly shell-shocked, arms still tight around her son as she stared at him, disbelief written in her expression.

Hermione turned away, leaving them to their private thoughts as she watched Theo jump up and down, crowing his joy. He hugged his mother again before racing for the portrait door.

"I'm going to go tell the others!" He cried, dashing out the door. "I can't wait to see Tracy's face."

Hermione laughed slightly and glanced up as Harry's hand landed on her shoulder. She smiled up at her friend, extremely grateful for his support, both here and in Kingsley's office.

"I'm going to go." He murmured. "Ginny and Ron will want to know where I've been."

"Ok." She sighed softly. "Tell them I love them."

"I will." He kissed her temple before slipping out the door, leaving her to her silent companions.

Hermione leaned back against the couch closing her eyes and massaging her sore head. Who knew things at the Ministry were so bad. She made a mental note to start helping out Kingsley with his rather extreme job. She doubted the poor man had time for half the things he needed done. She opened her eyes as a hand tapped her softly on the shoulder and she stared up at Constance reaching for the cub of tea she offered.

"Thank you." She murmured, wrapping her hands around the mug.

"No." Constance answered. "Thank you. You have saved us."

Hermione gazed up at the woman, who was so different from what she had expected. The woman was known as a gold-digger at best, yet her she was, kind loving and devoted to her family. Hermione began to think that maybe the rumours she had heard about the woman were far from true.

"Not yet I haven't." Hermione sighed. "But I've set things up so that I will be a bit more informed about what's going on in regards to new Laws. I should be able to stop any idea's of this sort, and I have people working there who will let me know what's going on in other departments."

Constance smiled at the young woman, amazed at how someone so young could talk so calmly and confidently about such things. She was a very unique person indeed and it was obvious that the girl was going to change the Wizarding world in the next few years. She was destined for greatness, just like Harry Potter was and Constance vowed to give her all the help she could.

"You are truly amazing Hermione." The older woman told her, patting her hand. "I thank you for everything and I'm sorry it's added to your work load."

Hermione waved this off. "It's fine." She assured her. "I don't mind. But you know, if you did want more say you could always approach Kingsley for a job."

Constance gave a laugh, the sound bell like that made Hermione blink in surprise. "Oh I don't think he would be willing to hire someone like me. But thank you for the thought dear. Now I have to go and take care of my own affairs. I did drop everything to get here today, many things need my attention."

She moved back across the room, bending to kiss Blaise's forehead and whisper in his ear before going to the fireplace and disappearing in a burst of green flames. Hermione gazed calmly at Blaise and Draco, who had now joined him on his couch. She was glad she had helped them, they were good boys and they didn't deserve to have their life dictated.

A clearing of a throat on her other side made her jerk and glance up into the pale face of Narcissa Malfoy. She opened her mouth to speak but was immediately cut off by the aristocratic woman.

"Thank you." The woman said icily before turning and marching towards the fire.

"You're welcome." Hermione murmured as the woman was effulged by emerald flames.

**A.N Thats all for now guys, sorry it took so long. I'm terrible when it comes to updating. If you're interested in RPG please join the site I'm on, it's worth your time. The site is http:/ hogwartschange. forumotion. com without the spaces.**


	21. who knew?

**A.N Ok guys next chapter. Just thought I would let you know. To all those that didn't get to read the last bit of my last chapter, please go back and read it. The reactions are now up, sorry for the problems there. Quick shout out to Happy Face21, thanks for your help.**

Chapter 20: Wow... Who knew it would turn out like this?

Hermione stared blankly at the empty spot in the flames that had just held Narcissa Malfoy. Today had been a very strange and exhausting day and she could feel her tired mind trying to catch up with everything that had happened. She mused on the day's problems, her over active mind was already working on more and more solutions to problems that had cropped up. A soft clearing of a throat jerked her back to her present company and she turned in surprise to see both Blaise and Draco staring at her from the couch.

"Are you ok, Hermione?' Blaise questioned no trace of emotion in his voice. "You look very warn."

"Kingsley is a hard man to argue with." Hermione confessed with a slight smile. "For the most part I agree with his direction for the Wizarding world. Once he heard us out he agreed with us, the Law was not written under his command, he had no idea it existed."

"You expect us to believe that." Draco asked with obvious contempt for the Minister.

"Yes." She peered at him over her cup as she took a relaxing sip. "Kingsley is nothing if not fair. He is a good man, and he will do all he can to help sort out this mess."

"Indeed." Blaise murmured, cutting off any reply Draco would have given. "Next time you see him please let him know we a grateful for his understanding."

"Of course." She replied softly, wondering why his formal words once again caused her to feel annoyed.

"We are grateful for your help also." He hurried to tell her, misinterpreting her slight frown.

"Oh it was nothing." She waved it off tiredly, not needing thanks for her actions. "I would have done it for anyone. Well I'm sorry to leave you both but I have things to do, if you will excuse me."

She rose from her seat and smiled at the two boys before leaving the room, unaware of the frowns that followed her words. Both boys murmured acknowledgements as she left the room and silence fell as they each contemplated their own thoughts.

"Well, good to know we are just like everyone else in her eyes huh?" Draco finally said bitterly.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "That bothers you?"

"Yea."

There was a pause as Blaise's surprised eyes meet Draco's cool ones and a dark eyebrow rose on a tan brow. A pale brow rose to mimic it and a slight smirk made its way onto the thin lips below.

"It bothers me too." Blaise admitted calmly.

"Does it now?" Draco questioned his smirk getting bigger. "Well that's interesting, I never would have guessed."

"Shut up, Draco." Blaise's voice was as calm as ever but a slight undertone warned his friend he was treading on thin ice.

"I was just observing." Came the reply and the smirk disappeared as a slightly disgruntled look took over. "I think I need a drink, it's been a long afternoon."

"Hmm." Blaise agreed nonchalantly. "I will join you."

A twitch of Draco's wand summoned a bottle of fire-whiskey and two glasses to the table. Draco immediately lent forward to poor generous helpings into each glass. He handed one to Blaise, holding the other in his hand waiting for his queue. Blaise clicked his glass against Draco's softly and the two downed their drinks in one go. The glasses were filled with amber liquid and emptied twice more before they remained full and the boys sat back relaxed.

"So..." Draco swirled the whiskey around in his glass, stormy eyes turbulent. "We are free men, quiet a relief isn't it?"

"Indeed." Blaise mused softly, sipping from his own glass.

"What should we do with this new found freedom?" His voice held a slight sarcastic lit to it.

His question, though probably rhetorical, was answered in a second as the portrait door burst open and Theo stumbled back in, arms draped over the shoulders of Tracey Davis and Astoria Greengrass. Daphne launched her way in after them, dragging Pansy and Millicent Bulstrode with her. Theo let out a loud whoop as he landed himself on Blaise's lap, dragging Tracey with him and pitching a giggling Astoria onto Draco. He wrapped his arms around his friends' neck and kissed his check wetly, causing a shocked look to cross the Italian's face.

"Theo!" He cried, shoving him off and causing the boy to tumble down onto the floor with Tracey.

"Blaise!" Theo answered uproaressly, hauling Tracey up as he flung himself back on the couch. "Drink with us!"

"Yea." Tracey spoke up, waving a bottle of Fire-Whiskey in his face as she flopped across the two boys. "Drink with us, Blaisey."

"Drink with us." Purred Pansy silkily as she stalked around the back of the couch, dragging her fingers threw Draco's platinum hair. She bent to nibble on his ear lobe and whispered "It's time to celebrate."

A pale hand shot out and shoved Pansy backwards, making the girl stumble to the floor.

"Celebrate!" Cried Astoria, throwing her arms around Draco, not noticing her shove had sent Pansy sprawling. "We are free Draco! Free to live and do whatever we want!"

A laugh escaped the blonde boy's lips as he glanced across at Blaise, who was trying to control Theo and Tracey as the two forced alcohol onto him. Pansy righted herself quickly, moving to wrap her arms around Draco from behind, gesturing to Daphne to hand her another bottle. The blonde obliged quickly, adding her own limbs to the pile on the couch as she landed herself on Draco's lap next to her sister. She handed out bottles from a box that had come with them, shoving one into the hands of a protesting Blaise.

"Lighten up, Blaise." Daphne told him, huskily. "It's party time. Milli, hit the music!"

Millicent flicked her wand and music blasted into the room, making Blaise jump and a loud thump sound from up stairs. Draco had given in to the women surrounding him, getting up to spin the blonde sisters around in a dance, bottles in hand. Theo and Tracey joined him quickly, grinding in a way that made Blaise's sensible nature cringe. He opened his mouth to protest and closed it again massaging his temple as the music volume rose. He could just imagine what Hermione was thinking right now, she would probably be down here in a few minutes to kick everyone out again and order the boys to bed. Yet minutes passed and Hermione didn't appear and Blaise was forced to realise that this party was going to happen.

"Blaise!" The shout and the impact of a body landing on his lap jolted him from his thoughts and he gazed at Daphne in confusion.

"What _are_ you doing Daph?" He questioned achingly.

"Having fun, silly." She sing-songed easily. "You know, like normal people."

"Daph." He sighed, his voice taking on a whining note that he wasn't proud of.

"Oh come on!" She bounced off the couch and dragged him bodily into the mess of body's that was the other six Slytherines.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione made her way slowly up to her room mind too focused on the events and problems of the day to make her legs walk any faster. She opened the door slowly and made her way to the desk, gathering up the parchment, books, quills and ink that lay there and carrying them over to the bed, eyes hazy with thought. She had lists to make, and letters to write and letters to read and essay's to write and notes to re-write. A sigh escaped her lips and she flopped down next to all of her work. She lay there for a few minutes deciding to rest her eyes for a bit before getting started and she let them glide slowly closed. I few seconds past before the room was filled with soft breathing as the girl drifted off to sleep, over come with the day's events. A small smile grew on her face and the frown lines slowly disappeared as she relaxed.

The sudden pounding of music sent Hermione crashing to the floor in shock, books and parchment raining down on her after her violent start. A shocked expression crossed her face and she would have looked almost comical to anyone that was watching. She was all too glad that no one had been, it wasn't often that she let her guard down so easily. She usually knew better than that.

"What on earth are those boys doing?" She said to herself in confusion at the noise that was flowing through her closed door.

The sound of Theo's voice, raised in excitement made a smile tug at her lips. Of course, they were celebrating. Well she could hardly blame them, she felt like celebrating too, after all, today had been a big success. She shook her head as girls voice's joined Theo's, it seemed they had invited around their whole year, or almost anyway. Well she would let them party, casting a silencing charm on her room she set to work on her studies, after all she still had much to do.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Blaise felt like he was in a private nightmare. Draco was dirty dancing with Pansy on one side and Astoria on the other while Theo was taking the time to touch every inch of Tracey and still managing to look like he was moving with the music. Tracey herself was alight with pleasure at Theo's attention and doing all she could to tease and entice the already overly interested boy. Millicent had dragged Goyle, who Blaise hadn't even notice enter the room with the others, onto the make shift dance floor which Daphne had created by magicing all the furniture against the walls of the room, leaving a clear space in the middle. Blaise himself was now standing, horror struck in the middle of the dance floor as a half drunk and scantily dressed Daphne tried to shame him into dancing with her.

"Daph." He abolished haughtily. "Go put some clothes on, your embarrassing yourself."

"No." Daphne crowed back defiantly, a cunning grin on her face. "Besides, I'm not under dressed, you're just over dressed that's all."

Before he could stop her she had flicked her wand and banished his clothing, or most of it anyway. Blaise growled in annoyance as he was left standing in his black pants, which slipped to sit low on his hips as she had taken away his belt.

"Daphne!" He choked out angrily, but the rest of his sentence was halted as a scrap of material was flung across the room, slapping him in the face. "What the-?"

He stared at a now topless Pansy, clad only in her black silk bra and a very short black skirt, as she grinded shamelessly against Draco. Thankfully Astoria still had most of her clothes on, all though she still was nowhere near as coved as Blaise would like.

"I'm in hell." Blaise mumbled covering his eyes with his hands as Millicent threw off her robes to reveal her own tiny outfit.

"Oh lighten up Blaise." Daphne murmured in his ear and he stiffened as she ran her hands along his exposed chest. "You need to relax, have a bit of fun. You never have fun."

His hands came down from his face to snatch her wrists, pushing her back from him. "Don't." He growled warningly.

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Party pooper. Honestly, anyone would think you didn't like girls Blaise." She eyed him critically. "Are you gay?"

"Don't be stupid." He was very quickly losing his cool and a harsh quality had entered his voice. "I just prefer women. I don't like immature little girls."

Her expression hardened immediately and he knew he had hit a nerve. Well good, she deserved it, she knew better than anyone that he wasn't gay, she should have known not to bait him like that.

"Fine." She snapped harshly, jerking her hands from his hold. "Die alone for all I care."

She marched over to where Tracey and Theo danced and easily joined them, soon she was laughing and dancing just like the rest. Blaise flopped down on one of the couches that were pushed against the wall, face impassive as always, but his mind was spinning with anger, annoyance and a slight bit of guilt. He hadn't meant to truly hurt Daphne's feelings, but she had crossed a line by trying to entice him and she knew it. After all she was engaged to one of his closest friends, Adrian Pucey, who had left school a few years before. It may be an arranged marriage, one Daphne was desperate to break, but that didn't mean she could use him as a means to do that.

"I know who's missing!" This sudden statement was yelled over the music by an enthusiastic Theo. "Our saviour in sparkling aura should be here!"

"Knight in shining armour." Blaise correct tiredly, tacking a large gulp from the bottle in his hand. "Wait what?"

But he was too late, Theo was already half way up the stairs on his way to Hermione's room before Blaise reached the bottom. He pounded after the drunk boy, sure he would get them all in a heap of trouble if he interrupted the Head Girl. He cringed as the door was thrown open and Theo tumbled into the room, Blaise flowed at full speed and crashed straight into the back of the suddenly immobile Slytherin, sending them both crashing to the floor.

"What on earth?"

Theo and Blaise gazed up at a shocked Hermione Granger, who stood by her bed, wand in front of her and her body shaking with adrenaline. Blaise's was still clutching his bottle, holding it away from the floor and Theo so as not to spill it. Theo grinned and held out his own bottle, which had also, miraculously, stayed full.

"It's alright." He stated easily, dragging himself out from under Blaise. "I didn't spill it. Oops."

He stumbled forward as he tripped over Blaise's leg and unfortunately, in his drunken state he wasn't quick enough to catch himself. He crashed forward into Hermione, spilling fire-whiskey over her robes and sending them both crashing into the bed. Hermione cried out wordlessly as she was pinned under Theo, covered in the powerful smelling drink. Blaise leaped forward to drag Theo off of her, pulling the girl upright again.

"Are you ok Hermione?" He questioned worriedly. "Please excuse Theo, he didn't mean to hurt you, he is just a bit clumsy right now."

"I'm so sorry H'mione." Theo gushed, upset at having hurt her. "I didn't mean to. Here you're all wet, let me fix it."

"No!" Hermione halted his hand as he reached for his wand and laughed slightly. "It's ok, I can clean up myself. And I'm fine, I'm not hurt, you just surprised me."

She shrugged off her robes, smiling at both boys, she tried not to stare at Blaise's uncovered torso, not wanting him to think she was checking him out, she was just surprised to see he had been parting with the others. She had thought him to reserved for that. She was happy he could relax and have fun though, even if it wasn't with her.

"You've been having a good time it seems." She said with a laugh, throwing her wet robes into a hamper and pulling her top down over her hips. "I'm glad you are happy and celebrating your freedom."

"It's all thanks to you 'Mione." Theo chirped, throwing his arm around the now less covered girl. "I must say you are looking perfectly delightful tonight, that outfit really suits you."

"Oh?" Hermione looked down at her tank top, stockings and shorts. "Thank you."

"You look perfect, now come party with us." Hermione gasped in surprise as Theo grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the door, clutching his now half empty bottle. "We can't have a party in your honour if you're not there you know. You saved us, now you have to be thanked properly."

"Theo!" Hermione cried, pulling against the boys surprisingly strong grip. "Wait I can't go out there dressed like this! There are people down there, what if they see me? And I have too much work to do, I don't have time for fun."

"Oh shush." Theo stooped and picked her up, laying her across his shoulder like she weighed nothing. "It's time for fun, and you're going to join us, no excuses."

"Theo!" She screeched. "Put me down!"

"When we get down stairs." He answered, making his way through the door with his prize. "Then you can get back on your feet and dance."

"Blaise!" Hermione implored, gazing at the stock still Head Boy. "Help!"

Blaise gazed at the girl, shock written all over his face. And then he started laughing, it started off quietly but slowly built into a loud, rumbling roar of amusement. He followed Theo down the stairs, laughing all the more at Hermione's shocked expression. The others paused in their actions as the three made their way into the room, surprised to see Hermione slung over Theo's shoulder and Blaise laughing his head off.

"Party on!" Daphne crowed, bouncing over to drag Hermione off Theo and onto the dance floor. "I knew you weren't the prude everyone said you were. Here!"

Hermione gaped in shock at the half dressed girl as she shoved a drink into her hand and pulled her into a half dance, with Hermione trying to pull away. Theo leaped forward to join them, dragging Tracey with him. The boy wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist, forcing her to sway to the music and the girls had her arms in their grip, forcing her to wave them and shimmy. After a few moments of struggling with her drunken year mates she gave up and laughed helplessly as she finally joined in, dancing on her own accord, still held by Theo.

"This is insane." Blaise told Draco who had made his way to his side after detangling himself from Pansy and Astoria.

"I agree." Draco said, his voice surprisingly serious for someone who had consumed so much alcohol. "Theo has his hands all over her, it's not acceptable."

"Exactly." Blaise answered, surprised his friend had been thinking the same as him. Hermione shouldn't be manhandled like that.

"It should be me." Draco stated suddenly and pushed his way into the mess of limbs to Hermione's side.

Blaise gazed in horror as he hauled the girl out of Theo's grip and spun her around in a pretty move that had her laughing. He then dragged her closer and started a fast paced dance, with Hermione giggling slightly as she kept up. The world had gone crazy and Blaise was at a loss as to what to do, he didn't know if he should just leave, or try to pull Hermione out of this mess. He glanced at the giggling girl, surprised to see her enjoying the dance. She had pulled out of Draco's hold but was shaking it near him, listening to a giggling Daphne with a grin on her face. Blaise took another swig from his bottle before gathering his courage to make his next move. Pushing through the groping hands of Pansy, Millicent and Daphne he made his way to Hermione's side. Grabbing her arm gently he tugged her towards himself, away from Draco's rather explicit dancing. Unfortunately, or in this case fortunately for him, his sudden tug made Hermione stumble, causing her to lean against him and brace her hands against his chest. He froze suddenly as her hands touched him, his hand still wrapped around her upper arm.

Hermione gazed up at Blaise in shock, eyes widening as she stared into his surprised eyes. Clearing her throat she stepped back and removed her hands from his chest, trying not to think about the smooth muscle that had hardened at her touch. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled hesitantly at the head Boy, feeling a strange flutter in her chest as his emerald eyes softened and he raised a hand to her check, grazing his thumb lightly over the warm skin.

"You're beautiful when you blush." He murmured huskily, causing heat to flow through her body.

"Th-thank you." She replied, sounding breathless to her own ears, yet she could do nothing as she was held in his gaze.

Blaise bent down his lips just grazing her ear as he whispered to her. "But you're hot when you're angry."

Shock raced through her and she snapped her head back, regarding him in confusion. The alcohol on his breath told her where this new found intimacy had come from and though she couldn't deny it thrilled her, she would not think anything of it.

"You're drunk." She informed him calmly, almost sad he couldn't be like this sober. "I should leave before you say something you'll regret in the morning."

She gently extracted her arm from his grip and smiled at the others before marching up the stairs, leaving a confused Blaise standing in the middle of the room, gazing after her, face unreadable. Draco gave a sharp laugh, slapping his friend on the back.

"Tough break, man." He told the Italian, still laughing. "That was a polite letdown, but a letdown none the less. Guess she's still up for grabs, huh."

Completely unconcerned about the closed expression on his friends face, Draco pulled Astoria to him, coxing her into a dirty dance. Theo, who was not as drunk as the other thought, untangled himself from Tracey and slipped up to Blaise's side.

"Don't leave it like that." He murmured in Blaise's ear. "Go after her, she wants you to follow her."

Blaise gave him a questioning look, surprised to see an almost completely sober Theo staring back. He gave his sneaky friend a half smile and pushed his way past Draco, heading straight for the stairs that Hermione had just climbed. He took them two at a time, rushing now that he knew what he wanted to do. He shoved open the door to her room, catching it and closing it with Quidditch speed.

"Hermione." He said softly as she spun, wand drawn. "Put down your wand, it's just me, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Sorry." Hermione lowered her wand, relaxing now that she could identify the intruder. "You surprised me."

"I apologise." He replied, trying not to gaze at her still scantily clad body. Her shapely legs were wrecking havoc on his already preoccupied mind and he tore his eyes away from them to gaze at her questioning face. "I had to tell you something."

"What is it?" She questioned, confused at his serious expression.

"Hermione." Blaise moved forward, reaching out to caress her check again. "You are so beautiful, it's almost inhuman."

"Blaise." She said calmly, ignoring the butterflies that had erupted in her stomach. "I think you need to go to bed, you've had too much to drink."

"No." Blaise disagreed, bring both hands to rest on her shoulders. "I've hardly had any, but I had just enough to realise."

"Realise what?" Hermione questioned, shoving down the warm feeling the rose at the closeness of his half dressed body.

"That I feel something for you." Blaise admitted, softly. "I don't know what I feel yet, but I want you."

"That's enough." Hermione snapped, raising her wand and casting a sobering charm. "You are drunk, you don't mean any of this."

Blaise rocked back as the spell hit his chest, raising an eyebrow at the cross girl, why did she not believe him?

"I'm being serious, Hermione." He continued, growing slight annoyed with her denial. "I am very attracted to you, it's very distracting."

"Who put you up to this." Hermione demanded, refusing to believe the sexy man in front of her would even want to touch her. "Was it Malfoy?"

"Damn it, Hermione!" Blaise shoved her gently against the wall nearby, pinning her hands above her head. "Why won't you believe me?" He demanded leaning into her body, tying to push down the stirring he felt at the contact.

"Because you can't be serious." She answered breathlessly, fighting back her slight fear and want. "There is no reason that someone as gorgeous and amazing as you would want someone plain like me."

"That's it." Blaise murmured huskily, wishing she could be ad open with him as she was with Harry and Ron. "If you don't believe me, then I'll have to prove it."

Keeping eye contact, he moved slowly towards her, giving her the time to push him away if she wished. Instead he watched as she gasped, making her chest press against his body, which was now flush against hers. Slowly he moved closer, tilting his head before gently pressing his lips against her mouth. A soft sigh escaped her and he kissed her more urgently, gripping her wrists to keep them above her head. Slowly her shock wore of and her lips started to move against his.

A thrill rushed through Hermione as his lips moulded hers, his body flush against hers making her gasp in shock and want. Her sensible thoughts flew from her mind and she opened her mouth at his insistence, letting him deepen the kiss. She completely relaxed into his hold, eyes closed as she simply enjoyed the physical contact. Another sigh passed her lips but was interrupted as the door to her room flew open once again.

"Hermione!"

She tore her mouth from Blaise's with a yelp and stared over his shoulder at the three read-heads standing in her door way. Everything happened to quickly to understand. In seconds Blaise was pulled off her and dragged across the room by the Weasley twins and Hermione was scooped up and held close by Charlie, who demanded answer's from Blaise in a harsh tone that had her cringing. Fred slammed the mute boy against the wall roughly, when he refused to answer Charlie's accusations and George held his wand at the ready, pointing it at Blaise's chest.

"Stop!" Hermione yelled, fighting Charlie's tight hold. "Leave him alone!"

"But Hermione!" Fred protested, fist raised to hit Blaise. "He was taking advantage of you! He had you pinned against the wall!"

"I enjoyed it!" she answered hotly, ignoring the incredulous looks of the three boys she could see.

"You did?" They questioned in unison, staring at her in surprised.

"Yes." Hermione said firmly, jaw set in defence. "So if you would please let him go I would be grateful."

Both of the twins looked to Charlie for orders, unsure how to proceed now that Hermione was no longer in danger. Charlie released the still struggling Hermione with a laugh and waved his hand at Fred.

"Let him go." He answered, still chuckling in amusement. "It seems we miss judged the situation. Our little Hermione is just growing up that's all."

He laughed harder when Hermione hit him in the chest, face red with embarrassment. The twins let Blaise go, brushing him off comically and straitening his clothes for him.

"Sorry about that, old chum." Fred apologised with a grin.

"Didn't realise you were pleasuring her." George added with a wink.

"Put up a sign next time." Fred advised. "Then we will know to come back later."

"Guys." Hermione protested, face growing redder.

"Yea, that's enough." Charlie rumbled gruffly, taking control. "Sorry we interrupted, Zabini. But we need to talk to Hermione, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room."

"That is fine." Blaise answered, setling back into his aloof persona. "Please try and make it quick, we were in the middle of something."

With that he crossed the room, kissed Hermione soundly and then left, closing the door softly behind him. Silence followed his departure and all eyes found their way to Hermione's red face.

"Dating a Slytherin Hermione?" Fred questioned with a grin. "Is that really a good idea?"

"Oh shut it." Hermione grumbled. "I'm not dating him, he just kissed me that's all. I'm allowed to enjoy myself now and then you know."

"Of course you are." George answered with a nod. "I just thought we would be able to give you the talk before you did anything serious."

"George!" She cried, eyes wide. "I haven't had sex with him!"

"Well maybe not with him." Fred allowed, shrugging. "But still, it would have been nice to set your mind at ease before your first time."

"I-" Hermione blushed, chocking on her words in embarrassment. "I'm still a virgin Fred."

"Oh." That at least silenced the twins, as shock flittered across their faces.

"Good to hear." Charlie butted in, smiling down at Hermione like a proud father. "I'm glad you decided to save it for someone worthy of it. As long as it's not Ron I'm happy."

"Ron?" Fred laughed. "Common Char', you can't honestly say you thought she would get with Ron? She deserves far better than our twat of a brother."

"Honestly?" Charlie answered looking thoughtful. "I assumed she would end up with one of you two.'

"Guys!" Hermione protested, "I'm standing right here!"

"Us?" George spluttered, ignoring Hermione completely. "There's no way someone as kind and as loving and sweet and good as Hermione would ever want one of us."

"Yea." Fred added easily. "Beside's we're kind of a package deal, I'm not sure Hermione could handle one Weasley, let alone two."

"That's enough!" Hermione ordered, face the same colour as their hair. "Can we stop talking about potential partner's for me and start talking about why, in the name of Merlin, are you guys are here?"

"Good point." Said Charlie, face turning serious. "I have a bone to pick with you Granger."

"What?" Hermione asked wearily.

"What on earth possessed you to get me a job at the Ministry!"

Hermione sighed and flopped onto her bed. "It's a long story."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was hours later when Hermione finally ushered the three Weasley's into the common room so they could floo home. An interesting site met their eyes. Slytherin's were scattered all over the room, all fast asleep after their drunken celebration.

"Did you want some help cleaning these guys up before we left?" Charlie asked, surveying the scene in amusement.

"No." She answered tiredly. "I'm just going to leave them here, they can clean up themselves in the morning."

"That's what I like to hear." Fred murmured, leaning forward to hug her and kiss her check. "See you later 'Mione."

"Have a good night." George murmured hugging her next.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do." Charlie jibbed, with a wink.

They were gone in a burst of emerald before she could even answer. Shaking her head at their antics, Hermione turned to survey the room's occupants. Theo was curled on a couch, arms wrapped around Tracey Davis, while Draco was stretched out on the other with Astoria lying on top of him and Pansy on the floor beside him. Millicent was curled in an arm chair, one arm draped over Goyle who, lay on the ground next to her. Daphne was nowhere in sight and she wondered what had happened to the blonde.

Shaking her head once again, she tucked a blanket around Theo and Tracey, smiling at the peaceful looks on their faces. They made a cute couple. She conjured another blanket to cover Draco and Astoria, concerned for their health as Draco wore only his boxes and Astoria her bra and skirt. A soft groan, however made her pause and she turned to scan the room again. A hand, sticking out from behind Draco's couch, gave Hermione a hint of Daphne's whereabouts and she marched over to find the drunken girl snoring lightly on the ground. She quickly conjured a double mattress, levitating first Daphne and then Pansy onto it and covering them with more blankets. After all, she would hate for them to wake up with sore backs as well as heads. Another mattress became a bed for Millicent and Goyle, more blankets were produced and Hermione was finally happy with her work. At least now they might get a good sleep.

She trooped slowly up the stairs, heading for her own bed, her mind preoccupied by her kiss with Blaise. What had she been thinking? He was a Slytherin for Merlin's sake, a hot, and popular Slytherin at that, it was almost as bad as kissing Draco Malfoy. And what was more, not only did she kiss him, but she enjoyed it. What was the world coming to?

She got ready for bed, giving up on the work she had started, dumping it back on her desk. She pulled off her clothes, replacing them with an over sized Quidditch shirt, that had once belonged to either Fred or George. Peeling back her covers she climbed into bed, curling up gratefully on the soft mattress. A flick of her wand turned the light out and she tucked the weapon under her pillow so she could reach it easily at need. Pulling the covers over her she let out a contented sigh. She was so tired she knew she would have trouble getting up tomorrow. Pushing all thought from her tired mind she waited for sleep to take her.

Just as she was drifting off she heard a slight creak as the bathroom door opened. Her hand dove under her pillow and withdrew her wand. An instinct honed to perfection by the war. She squinted at the figure that moved slowly through the door into the room.

"Hermione?" Came Blaise's husky voice.

"Blaise." Her voice was breathless again, her body immediately filling with heat at the memory of their kiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**And that's all for now folks. Hope you enjoy it as people have been asking for more Hermione/Blaise interactions. So here you go. Isn't it a shame they were interrupted?**


	22. here we go

**A.N Ok here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it and if you want more then please review. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling because she is the master, bow down.**

**Chapter 21: Here we go**

Hermione's breath quickened as her heart rate speed up and she waited for Blaise's reply. What was he doing here? What did he expect from her now? Holding the sheets up to her chin, legs bent in front of her and she became extremely aware of the fact that she was scantily dressed in only a night-shirt. The silence stretched and Hermione almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the soft rustle of material as Blaise made his way further into the room.

"I'm sorry to disturb you." He apologised huskily. "I know you must be very tired after your day."

"It's fine." She replied, surprising herself with her calm tone. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to apologise for my earlier behaviour. It was rash and rude and completely unacceptable under the circumstances."

Hermione felt her eyebrows rise at the rushed quality in his voice. "It's fine, Blaise."

"No, it's not." He cut her off very quickly stepping closer to the bed, voice rising slightly in his need to make things right. "It was shocking behaviour, not fit to use with the lowest of the low, let alone a woman of your standing. I am mortified, I don't know what came over me, I just could not stop myself."

"Blaise." A smile twitched at Hermione's lips and she surprised herself with her calm tone. "Is that your way of telling me you find me attractive?"

In the half light of the moon, Hermione saw a dark blush stain Blaise's olive cheeks.

"It most certainly is not." He assured her quickly, moving closer once again. "If I was telling a woman I found her attractive I would not do it like that at all."

There was a pause in which Hermione waited for him to continue and he waited for her to reply, a slight smile pulled at her lips and she let out a soft laugh.

"Ok Blaise, you have successfully apologised for your rash actions." She smiled at him. "You can go to bed now."

"Of course." He agreed quickly, his voice once again formal and devoid of emotion. "You must be tired, I shell let you sleep."

Blaise turned to go and paused, studying her sudden frown at his words. "Oh, I almost forgot."

He took two steps forward and bent to capture her lips with his own in a searing and sudden kiss that made Hermione gasp in surprise as fire shoot from her lips to every part of her body. It was over as quickly as it had begun and Blaise was standing by the door by the time Hermione had gathered her senses. She gazed after him, silent with wonder and he smiled as he turned to closer her door behind him.

"Good night, Hermione."

The door clicked shut and Hermione blinked, still to amazed and confused to speak. She turned and lay back in her bed, fingers trailing over her lips, which were still warm from his touch.

"Good night, Blaise." She murmured into the silent room.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day Hermione woke late, feeling both refreshed and slightly nervous at the same time. A quick peek into the bathroom assured her that Blaise wasn't in side and she quickly locked the doors, taking the next half hour to relax and pamper herself slightly. Spells were used to shave her legs and armpits, another was used to tame her hair, a bubble bath flowed and ten minutes of exfoliating her entire body left her skin silky smooth and glowing. She brushed her teeth last and then went back to her room to change for the day. Silky underwear was first, because she loved the feel of it, followed by shear, skin coloured stockings and a flowing green skirt which showed off her toned calves. She matched the skirt with a pale gold top, which hugged her body slightly well leaving her arms bear and a set of dark gold robes, which kept her warm against the chill of the air. She trotted quietly down to the common room, her soft shoes making no noise. Once she saw that the room was back to normal and there were no slytherin's in site she marched easily across the room and out the portrait door. A smile lit her face at her success in avoiding all of her yearmates, she was not ashamed of her actions last night, but she had not yet had time to properly evaluate them. She needed time to understand this newest assortment of emotions. She turned to make her way down to breakfast and leaped back in surprise when she came face to face with aperson she wasn't keen on seeing that morning.

"Malfoy!" She cried, shock making her refer to him by his last name. "Don't do that!"

A smirk lingered on his pale lips and but he didn't move from his position, lounging easily against the wall as though he had every right to be there. Which he did, but that wasn't the point. He at least, looked none the wose for a night spent on the couch, something she was slightly annoyed about.

"Do what?" Draco questioned innocently. "I was just standing here, you walked into me."

She gave him a withering look and moved to walk past him. "If you're looking for Blaise, I think he has already gone down to breakfast."

"I'm not looking for Blaise." He answered, turning to keep step with her as she moved to walk off. "Actually I was looking for you."

"Oh really?" Hermione drawled as she picked up her pass, heading for the great hall as fast as she could.

"Really." Draco kept step with her easily, his longer legs giving him an advantage. "I wanted to thank you for what you did."

"You thanked me last night." She informed him, slowing down when she saw it was hopeless trying to outpace him. She glanced at him and offered him a small smile. "It's ok really, you don't have to thank me anymore."

"No." His hand reached out and gently clasped her arm, pulling her to a stop.

Hermione raised her eyebrow at the mysteriously serious expression on his face. His emotions confused her, she could tell he was frustrated but determined to do what he had come here to do. Yet a third emotion overrode the other two, an emotion Hermione couldn't identify, a look that she had only seen a handful of times.

"Draco?"

He moved towards her, pushing her gently up against the wall behind her, his head lowered so that his forehead almost touched hers as he stared into her eyes, with an intensity that render her speechless. She raised her hands in front of her, unsure if she should be defending herself against him or offering him comfort for the tangle of emotions that seemed at war behind his eyes. His long fingers wound easily around her wrists, trapping them in his grasp which was surprisingly gentle. Yet she felt no fear for his actions, despite what the logical side of her mind was saying. She felt that Draco was not here to hurt her, she had no reason to fear him.

"I wanted to thank you properly." He told her, his suddenly husky voice sending shivers down her spine as his breath teased her check. He bent closer, his eyes level with hers. "Please, don't hit me this time."

She opened her mouth to protest but his lips cut her off, he pressed them against hers softly, slowly, moving very gently as he prompted her to kiss him back. Shock had settled into Hermione and she struggled with her mind to force movement into her limbs. There was no fire from this kiss, no sudden spark, but a deep, warm feeling was slowly working its way up from her core, slowly but surely heating her from the inside out. Her body thawed inch by inch and she was shocked to find her lips responding, ever so slightly to Draco's kiss. Suddenly her mind came back to focus, her arms tensed, her back straightened and Draco stepped away from her so suddenly she swore he should have whiplash.

"Thank you." His voice was gravely and deeper than normal, sounding strained from effort. With a quick nod he turned and strode away his long legs taking him out of her sight, around the corner in seconds.

Hermione stood, back to the wall and breath coming fast as she tried to process what had just happened. What was wrong with her? She wasn't a boy crazy teenager and now her she was having kissed two different guys within twenty four hours. She was turning into a floozy.

"Hermione?" The sudden voice caused her to jump and she spun to see Neville, Dean and Seamus making their way toward her, down the corridor.

"Are you ok?" Neville asked her as they came even with her.

"Of course." Hermione answered quickly, smiling brightly. "Sorry I was lost in thought. Are you on your way to breakfast?"

The boys all nodded confirmation and Hermione easily fell into step with them, entering the great hall while happily laughing at something Dean had said. She sat with her back to the Slytherin table, refusing to look at where she knew the two Kings would be.

...

Across the room Blaise sat silently next to his sulking housemates. Theo, on his left, sat with his head lowered as he nursed his mug of coffee, Tracey sat next to him, her face in her hands as she massaged her temples. Pansy sat across from her friend, Dahnee and Astoria leaning on her from either side, all three looking like they very much regretted the amount of alcohol they had consumed the night before. Goyle alone seemed unfazed by his nights binge eating with his normal gusto. Blaise, though not hung over, was definitely not in his normal mood. A far away expression consumed his face and his fingers spun a fork end over end in a constant motion that made Pansy look green every time she looked at it. The fork clattered onto the table when Draco seated himself suddenly next to the Italian, nudging him rudely to get his attention.

"Morning Blaise." Draco smirked easily. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Blaise answered smoothly. "Better than them."

His gaze swept across their gathered friends and Draco's smirk grew.

"Indeed." Grey eyes sparked with amusement as he took in the appearance of Theo and the girls. "It's too bad I used the last of my hang over potion this morning."

"Sod off." Theo mumbled from Blaise's other side, voice harsh from overuse.

A surprising wave of laughter rose up from the group of friends, it swelled gently and merged rather suddenly with an identical wave that had been produced from the Gryffindor table. Both Blaise and Draco turned to survey the golden trio, surrounded, like they were, by their friends. A strange, almost confused look crossed Draco's face before he shook his head and turned to tease his friends some more. Neither he nor Blaise saw Hermione glance their way before her eyes darted back to her friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Ok that is all for this chapter, long time coming I know and Im very sorry for the delay, so much to do now that Im an adult.**


	23. Moving on

**A.N: hey guys next chapter. Things should really start heating up now as the ball prep gets under way and pressure starts mounting. Hermione will be feeling the stress pretty heavily.**

Chapter 22:

Hermione's life was slow changing in ways that shocked and appalled her. Schoolwork had once been the thing she thought about most, along with the defeat of Voldimort of course. During her first 6 years at Hogwarts those two things had always been her main concern, coming second only to her family and friends. Lately however, there had been large shifts in Hermione's priorities. Her family and friends were still at the top of the list, although the people that included had been added too, but Voldimort and his Death eaters seemed to be a very low priority now that the Dark Lord was dead. School work had also been shoved further down the list, much to Hermione's shock, not only because she had already learnt most of the curriculum in the two years she had been away, but also because her NEWTS seemed largely unimportant compared to what she had already been through. After all, which was going to look more impressive on her CV, five O's in her NEWTS or the fact that she had helped bring about the fall of Lord Voldimort and his death eaters, thus saving that wizarding world? She still kept up with her homework of course and she still had the top marks of the school, but she was less worried about it now. Her Head Girl duties had come to the foreground now, ranking a third on her list of priorities with happenings at the Ministry ranking in second.

These things alone had Hermione so busy; she hardly had time for anything else. And yet there was one other concern that weighed on her mind, one that she had never considered to be anything of importance before. Her love life. Truth told, Hermione had never considered love to be a priority at all, rather something that would come along "when she had the time". Unfortunately, it seemed that this was not going to be the case. Hermione had spent the last few days avoiding being alone with Draco, Blaise or Ron, but it was starting to get tiresome. After all, Ron was one of her closest friends, Blaise was Head Boy and Draco was not only on the ball committee, but he spent a large amount of his time in the Heads common room. Hermione was struggling with it all, but she couldn't yet understand just how she was supposed to deal with it all. After all, she was largely unpractised at this area of life, she hadn't even had a proper boyfriend before, unless you count Victor or Cormac, and she definitely didn't count them. So it was with a jittery mind that she sort out Ginny the weekend following her dramatic week. After all, who else could she talk to about all this if not Ginny? She was sure the girl would understand.

A sudden thought occurred to Hermione, making her nibble her lip in concern. What if Ginny didn't understand? What if she was horrified at the thought of Hermione having let not one but two ex-Death eaters kiss her? What if she was angry that Hermione had rejected her brother but accepted kissed from two men who had once been her worst enemies? What if Ginny hated her, and told Harry? And Harry hated her, and... She shook her head, ok now she was just being silly. After all, Ginny would never sell her out to anyone, or stop being her friend just because she had made a few mistakes. Besides, Ginny herself had confessed that she didn't think her and Ron would make a good couple. She would understand Hermione was sure of it.

She made her way to the Gryffindor common room quickly, hoping to get there before the boys were awake. The fat lady let her in with a quick smile and a hello and Hermione slipped though the portrait hole into the quiet room. She took a quick look around, and upon seeing no-one she made her way to the stairs to the girls dormitory, taking them two at a time in her rush to see her friend. She nocked quickly when she reached Ginny's room and entered without waiting, surprising the five girls who were inside. All of their heads jerked up and the stopped their morning preparations as the Head Girl rushed into their room. Ginny was bent over her trunk, pulling out random items of clothing but she paused as Hermione moved across the room to talk to her.

"Ginny." She said with an easy smile. "I was thinking about going for a run this morning, did you want to join me?"

"Sure!" Ginny chirped and shoved back the handful of clothes she held, selecting more exercise appropriate clothes instead.. "I'll just get dressed and we can go now if you want?"

"Sounds great."

Hermione sat on Ginny's perfectly made bed as the younger girl snagged her outfit and bounced off to the bathroom. A few minutes later saw the two girls exiting the castle into the cold air of the grounds. Goosebumps broke out over their skin instantly and they stretched quickly before starting a warm up jog down to the lake. A few minutes passed as they settled into their rhythm, they had run together a lot after the war was over and the pattern was familiar. The first few minutes went by in silence as they enjoyed the feeling of simply moving, with nothing to worry about and no pressing matters at hand.

"So" Ginny glanced across at Hermione as she matched her pace for pace. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing gets by you does it Gin?" the older girl asked with a grin. "I have a problem."

"And it's about a guy." Ginny assumed correctly.

Hermione shot her a look. "How did you know that?"

"Well if it wasn't." Ginny puffed slightly as their path took them up hill. "Harry would be here as well."

"Fair point" Hermione paused a few seconds as they powered up the slope before starting down the other side towards the forbidden forest. "So it's a bout guys."

"Plural?" Ginny questioned. "Well, well 'Mione, we are in trouble."

"Are you sure you're wanting to get into this?" Hermione questioned with a laugh. "Some of it is about your brother."

"Which one?" Ginny asked and ducked with a quick laugh as Hermione tried to cuff her over the head. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry low blow. Fire away, tell me all."

A half hour later saw them sitting on a rock at the side of the forest, taking breather well Ginny mulled over all the new information she had just been given. Once Hermione had explained the situation she realised just how messed up things really were. Ginny had only added to the confusion when she mentioned that Dean was possibly getting ideas also. Hermione was starting to feel rather over whelmed.

"You have a very unique problem on your hands." Ginny informed her with a laugh. "Only you could get yourself in a situation like this. Honestly, you know if you were any other person you would have had this kind of thing happen over the course of a few years, not all in one go."

"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned in confusion. "It's only just started now."

"No" Ginny shook her head. "It hasn't. This thing with Ron has been brewing for years, it should have been solved after the Yule ball when Ron started acting jealous of Krum, or in sixth year with the Cormac, thing. But you were always too busy, there was always a life or a world that needed saving. So it was always put off until you had the time to deal with it. And Malfoy? Well there's been enough tension between you two over the years I'm surprised he didn't jump you years ago. But your muggleborn and you were on opposite sides of the war, so he couldn't."

Hermione made a disgruntled noise but didn't interrupt.

"Blaise is a different story." Ginny mused, leaning against the cold stone beneath her. "You've really only just got to know him in the last few weeks, Theo too. In another time, when things weren't so tense between house's, you might have been great friends from early on. Again though, there was a war and they were on the wrong side."

"I don't see what Theo has to do with any of this." Hermione mumbled.

"Right." Ginny shot her a knowing look but said no more of the brunette Slytherin. "Dean's sudden interest is not so sudden, I can assure you of that. He and Seamus have had eyes on you since the Yule ball. They just always found you intimidating, hard to say why though."

That earned her a laugh. Hermione knew well enough how intimidating she could seem. After all not only was she one of Harry Potter's best friends but she was also top in their year and now Head Girl. She could only assume her temper was well heard of by now, and if people didn't know she had once punched Draco Malfoy in the nose then she would have been very surprised.

"Well, as educational as it's been to have you break it down like that." Hermione smiled at Ginny to let her know she appreciated her help. "I still need you to tell me one more thing. What do I do now?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Ginny smiled sympathetically. "It's up to you to decide how you feel about them. The only one you seem to have come to any sort of decision about is Ron, which I'm extremely glad over. For one thing, he is my brother and I don't want to see him strung along and I always thought you would make a terrible couple, no offence."

"None taken." She assured her quickly. "But Gin, how am I supposed to deal with the rest of them? I'm only just getting to know Blaise and Theo, and Malfoy is Malfoy, I've always hated him. I didn't even realise Dean was in the picture at all until you told me."

"Well" The red head mused. "It's really about how you feel."

"But I don't feel anything!" Hermione insisted slightly hysterically. "I didn't ask for any of this! I just wanted to have a normal, easy year for once in my life!"

Ginny smothered a giggle under a hand. "Hermione, this is normal. These a normal teenage girl problems, you got what you asked for. And as for not feeling anything, well we both know that's a lie, or you wouldn't have let Blaise or Malfoy kiss you. I want to help, and I'll do all I can, but you have to decide for yourself how you really feel about these guys. Then you will know how to react."

Hermione hung her head in defeat and Ginny smiled sympathetically before standing and holding out a hand. "Come on 'Mi. Let's finish this run and get ready for the weekend."

She let the younger girl pull her to her feet and they continued their run around the edge of the forest

XXHXXBXXDXXTXXDXX

Hermione and Ginny's run had lasted another hour before they had called it quits and made their way to their respective common rooms. The Heads dorm was surprisingly empty, but it was still early on a Saturday day morning and it was possible the Slytherin's were all still in bed. Hermione wasn't complaining and she spent the next hour preparing herself for the day. By the time she left her room and slipped down stairs she was feeling better about her appearance than she had in a long time. Her hair was soft and styled into lose curls, her skin glowed with a healthy shine and her body looked neat and trim in her tight blue jeans and white sweater. She had forgone her robes for the day and she relished the ease of movement as she made her way to the great hall. It wasn't that she minded the wizard's robes she wore every day, she just often found them weighty and burdensome. She was perfectly warm, having placed heat charms of her clothes and she found no need to have her robes with her.

She made her way to breakfast, where she met Ginny again, they were soon joined by Lavender and Parviti, Dean and Neville, the early risers of the Gryffindor males. The others, Dean informed them, were still very much asleep. This didn't bother Hermione much, she would catch up with Harry and Ron later there was plenty of time to catch up or the weekend. Instead she let Ginny, Dean and the girls fill her in on happenings with the ball committee and made a few suggestions she thought might help. She was glad they were enjoying the task, as she would never have found the time herself, she still had much more pressing matters to attend to. But she knew her friends would demand she left it until later. The weekend was to be enjoyed.

She had only just relaxed around her friends, one hand wrapped around a warm cup of tea, when the doors opened, emitting a gust of cold wind. A shiver raced down Hermione's spine, one that had nothing to do with the cold and she turned to see Draco, Blaise and Theo enter the room, with a collection of Slytherin's. None of them looked in her direction as they made their way to their table and she quickly looked back down at her plate, avoiding Ginny's knowing gaze. Hermione turned her eyes instead to Dean, taking a few moments to focus on what he was actually saying. She finally brought her mind into focus at the perfect time, as he had just turned to ask her a question.

"So did you have plans for the Hogsmead trip next weekend, Hermione?" Dean's smile was bright and slightly contagious.

"She does actually." Ginny interrupted quickly, before Hermione could answer. "She promised she would go to this new store with me. I've been begging her since school started."

"She's right." She mused with a soft smile. "I did promise her I would go."

"Well great!" His smile brightened even more. "We were all planning on going, why don't we all go together then have a butterbear at the three broomsticks when we're done?"

"Sure." She grinned. "I'll let Harry and Ron know, we'll make it into a-" She paused and frowned slightly. "What are we exactly? We're not really 7th years are we?"

Ginny shrugged. "Well technically you are, after all you're doing the school work of a 7th year."

Hermione raised a shoulder and let it fall. "Oh well, so it's a 7th year plus Ginny outing."

Dean laughed easily as Ginny rolled her eyes. Everyone agreed however and plans for the next weekend were solidified. Ginny and Dean soon excused themselves, making their way to Gryffindor tower to gather their Quidditch gear for morning practice. Parviti and Lavender parted ways next to find Padma. That left Hermione and Neville to wonder away from the table together and up the marble staircase. Hermione soon left the boy behind as she made her way to her common room. Knowing she only had a few hours left to herself while her friends were practicing, she planned to make the most of it by attending to a few of the more pressing matters that needed her attention.

Curling up on the couch she turned the coffee table into a temporary work space as she answered all of her mail. Bill was top priority, as she sent a long list of law's that she had uncovered that either needed changing or abolishing, she added a stack of papers, containing the law's he had currently been working on and her opinions on them all. She added a few suggestions to that stack and then finished it up with a quick letter on the wellbeing of Ron, Ginny and Harry.

Charlie was next, as it seemed she would be sending letters to almost every Weasley member not at Hogwarts. She started this one with a detailed letter on his siblings school life, added in a few lines about Harry as well and rounded it off with a one-liner about her continuing existence. The rest of the letter contained notes on books, book structure and her opinions on how he could write his book. She also advised him he shouldn't try to cram everything he knew into one book. But that was just a suggestion.

The Twins were next, with another three contracts having be read, re-read and edited to remove any dangerous loopholes from the small print. She added another stack of notes, containing helpful changes to potions and spell's, which had been causing unwanted side-effects. She added another few pages of her own ideas for products, a long list of idea's from Ginny and a short letter assuring them of their siblings continued health.

Mrs Weasley was next and far easier than the rest. A couple of pieces of parchment were all it took to detail the last few weeks of school. Hermione made sure to add in Ron's grades, which had risen considerably from what they were before the war. Ginny's grades were also detailed, as they had also risen, until she was now competing for top in class. Harry got a whole page to himself, as Hermione took great pains to ensure Mrs Weasley knew Harry was happy, healthy and enjoying life more than he ever had.

Hermione paused a moment, taking time to place all of her current letters into envelopes, addressing them in her usual flowing hand before standing to stretch. Her hand cramped slightly and she rubbed it absentmindedly before bending to touch her toes. Her back cracked slightly and she straitened again. Stacking the envelopes neatly she paused and chewed on her lip. She needed to reply to Kingsley's latest letter, but she didn't really want to. She was still mildly annoyed at the Minister for Magic and with a decisive nod she decided to leave it until after the weekend. After all, he wasn't paying her was he? A mischievous smile crossed her lips as she bundled up her things, stacking the letters neatly on her desk before taking the stairs two at a time up to her room. Opening the charmed draw at her desk, she slipped the papers containing Ministry information, including the letter from Kingsley, in before sealing it shut. Taking a quick look in the mirror she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ears, rubbed a smudge of ink off her check and tugged her top strait. Turning she bounced out the door, closing it with a snap behind her and continuing on down the stairs. She was feeling happier today than she had felt in a long time and far more rested as well.

Humming slightly as she slipped down the stairs, she failed to notice she had company in the room, her mind preoccupied with her plans. She had moved across the room to her desk, where she started flicking through new memos and messages from teachers, before she realised she wasn't alone. Her head snapped up as a throat cleared and she slowly put the handful of parchment down before turning to survey her doom. Blaise sat at his own desk chair, facing her across the room, only his eyes expressed his amusement. Draco leaned a hip on one edge of the desk a smirk ghosting across his lips and Theo lent against the wall an uncontained grin on his face.

**A.N And that's where I'm leaving it for now. I hope you all enjoyed it. There is more to come I swear even though this chapter was rather boring. Please stay with me. I'm getting there.**


	24. It could have been you

**A.N Next chapter for ya. Going to really get into this story line now I promise.**

Chapter 23: What could have been

Hermione raised an eyebrow at them as they all looked at her. "Can I help you?" She questioned, blandly.

"I don't know." Draco quipped back. "Can you?"

"No actually." Hermione retorted casually. "I'm busy, so I don't have time for whatever it is that you lot are doing."

She pushed herself away from the desk, palming the letters she had just finished and moving to stride across the room. Draco took two strides forward to block her path, his smirk now fixed in place, while Theo moved slowly in to block her path back to her desk.

"What's the rush Granger?" Draco drawled. "Anyone would think you were avoiding us."

Hermione made a tusking noise and looked down her nose at him, which was quite the feat in Draco's opinion as she was almost a foot shorter than the 6 foot 3 inch male. Propping her hands on her hips, letters still on one hand, she raised an eyebrow at him and sighed.

"Malfoy, you seem to be under the impression that I care enough about your opinion to want to avoid hearing it." She smirked at him suddenly. "I, however, don't. I do have somewhere to be though, so if you would excuse me?"

Theo snorted in amusement from behind her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "As great as it would be to stand here and listen to you chew out Draco, we do want to talk to you, and you have been avoiding us."

Hermione twisted from under his hand and took two quick steps to the side bringing all three boys back into her range of sight. Ignoring Theo's hurt look she slipped her wand from her sleeve, letting it nestle in her hand, not as a threat, merely as a precaution. Theo sighed at that shoving a hand through his wild locks. Draco rolled his eyes at her edginess, but it was Blaise who Hermione watched, his dark, emerald eyes bored into her, searing her skin. He said nothing, did nothing, but Hermione could sense emotion's bubbling under the blank mask he showed the world. Her gaze turned back to Draco, whose icy stare she met unflinchingly. She had come to expect that look, the hardened emotions he had develop over years of practice. He could not fool her, his coldness was as much a mask as Blaise's aloofness, both only hid what they felt it did not remove the feeling.

"I have not been avoiding you." She informed them lightly, her voice remained calm, but she felt far from relaxed. "I have been busy. I have school work and Head's duties, as well as trying to keep up with things at the Ministry. Just because I stopped that one law doesn't mean others won't be thought up. I'm trying to keep things fair and just, but we all know that things are tense, it's a constant struggle. There are many who still think people like you, Draco, should be brought to justice."

That cowed him, Hermione could see the amusement, the arrogance, die in his eyes. She was tired and stressed because she had taken on their problems as well as her own. His eyes swept down and away, the ice in them melted, his mask dropped and Hermione was surprised to see a flash of regret before his walls came up and the ice sealed over once more. Although Theo grimaced slightly at her words, probably regretting their actions already, Blaise seemed largely unaffected. In fact his expression changed not a bit, remaining a polite mask of indifference. Something about that look, that blank aloofness irked the proud Gryffindor. So he could kiss her, hold her, want her, but he could not show her his feelings, is that how it was with him? He would give only physically, never showing his emotions, never expressing them, never trusting her. Her own eyes hardened as they met his, the soft honey of her gaze being replaced with cold metal, unfeeling. Her chin came up in sudden defiance, and although she couldn't say just why she was so angry at Blaise, she did not try to stomp out the flame that caught in her chest.

"As for me avoiding you?" Theo's eyes widened at the sudden malice in her voice. "Don't flatter yourself; I simply haven't had the time or the need to talk to you. I have a life outside of what you see and as much as it might hurt your pride to realise it, you aren't the centre of it. So once again, you are taking up my time, time I don't have to give and now I am late, if you will excuse me?"

She had phrased it as a question but did not wait for the answer as she pushed past Draco, knocking his shoulder rudely on her way to the door. She refrained from slamming it behind her, but she did shut it with a sharp click, releasing her anger through a fast paced walk rather than childish actions. She was halfway across the castle, to the owlery before she slowed. She had seen the shock and hurt in Theo's eyes as she left, it had been unfair of her, as angry as she was at Draco and Blaise, Theo had done nothing wrong. With a sigh of resignation she decided she would make it up to the boy, after all, he had been a good friend to her, one she didn't want to lose. Growling curses under her breath she stomped her way to the Owlery and up the tower, the dark scowl on her face kept the general population of the castle at bay, for which she was glad. She was gladder still that the Owlery was empty and after she had sent her letters with a collection of school birds she took a few moments to calm down.

'_Why am I so angry?'_ She questioned herself sharply. _'It was uncalled for; after all, they were right, I have been avoiding them. So why did I react that way? Why so much anger?'_

Shaking her head she sighed and reached up to arrange her hair as well as she could, it had come loss and tangled about her face in her head long rush across the castle. Berating herself for her actions towards the three Slytherin's, she tugged her clothes strait before making her way back down the stairs. She would find Theo and apologise to him, he had nothing to do with her anger and he deserved at least a bit of an explanation.

XXXHXXXBXXXDXXXTXXXDXXX

Blaise winced internally as the door shut with a firm snap behind the infuriated witch. On the outside however he simply raised an eyebrow at the other two males. This had not been his idea, it had been theirs and he had already told them it would not go down well. He had expected her to react badly, however, he hadn't expected her to be so angry. A picture of her eyes, hard and cold simmered in his mind and he felt a tug in his chest. What had they done to anger her so? What had he done? Was it the kiss, was she regretting her actions so much that she had lashed out in anger? Was it shame, steamed from the fact that she had allowed him to touch her? Another tug, one he ignored as Draco and Theo turned to look first at each other than at him. Hurt shimmered in Theo's eyes though he hid it quickly enough, but it was Draco whom surprised him. Anger blazed, like silver flames in his eyes, and something else, something almost hidden, smouldered in the background.

"Stupid, Gryffindor, prat," Draco sneered grumpily, kicking at Hermione's chair. "Stuck up, know-it-all, bookworm. Insufferable, snobby-"

"I think we get the point." Blaise said quietly, noting that even though his oldest friend appeared angry not once did the word Mud-Blood pass his lips.

"We did kind of corner her." Theo mumbled although his eyes still showed the dull ache that had taken hold in his chest. He hadn't meant upset her, he had just wanted to be able to send time with her, talk to her again.

"So?" Draco snapped, "We had every right to demand answers, she's been dodging us for days. It's immature and completely uncalled for."

Theo and Blaise exchanged a glance, an amused smile curling the side of the brunette's mouth. Blaise simply raised an eyebrow at his friend when he started to snigger, although he did feel a tinge of amusement strike through the emotions Hermione had stirred in him. _'And what emotions would those be?'_ He questioned himself, _'Anger, for sure, but anger is easy, anger is expected. However it is not all I feel. So, why the pain? Why the hurt? Why the worry_?'

Because he felt all of that and more, Hermione's anger, her malice and the hard, icy stare had stirred many emotions' he had refused to feel for years. Tuning out the back and forth arguing of Draco and Theo, he delved deeper into himself, examining his emotions in the cool, critical way his mother had taught him. The anger he dismissed, anger was a base feeling and useless in this situation, he tossed it aside, removing it from his system before it had a chance to fester. Worry was next and also a base emotion, it was natural to worry, even if it wasn't always helpful. However the reason for his worry is what he wanted to examine and the answer came quickly, unexpectedly to light. He was worried she regretted the kisses, regretted her actions. He was worried she didn't want him or his attentions. Deeper still he found the pain and hurt that came with the worry. He was pained at the thought of her not wanting him, not liking him. He was hurt by her avoidance since their kiss, but the question was why.

"Blaise?" Theo's nudge in the ribs had him looking up from the ground, which he had been studying as he examined his feelings. "We're going down for breakfast, are you coming?"

"Of course." The olive skinned Italian stood smoothly, shutting down his emotions once more as he followed his housemates from the room. He could continue with his soul searching at a later date, when he had more time.

XXXHXXXDXXXBXXXTXXXDXXX

Hermione slipped quietly through the corridors and down flights of steps following the direction her wand pointed her in. A locator spell, although easy to do, was hard to maintain and took a lot of concentration. She kept an image of Theo in her mind as the wand spun on her palm, directing her down another corridor and out through a tapestry. Moving faster she flittered down a flight of stairs and rounded a corner to see the three Slytherin's walking towards her. Cutting off the spell she shoved her wand into her pocket and rush down the corridor. All three men looked up as she approached, eyes weary, only Theo offered her a small smile. Draco's gaze was hostile while Blaise's was blank.

"Theo." Hermione questioned sheepishly, scuffing her foot along the ground. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Theo didn't even hesitate, leaving Draco's left side easily and offering Hermione his arm. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?"

Hermione grinned and took hold of his arm, her tinny hand gripping it gently. They left the other two to walk to breakfast alone, walking the opposite way along the corridor. Draco stomped towards the great hall, muttering swearwords under his breath. Blaise trailed along behind him, a slight smile tugging on his lips as his friend complained. Hermione and Theo walked in silence for a few minutes, Hermione nibbling on her lip in thought. She knew what she wanted to say but not how. Theo remained silent at her side, letting her gather her thoughts. After ten minutes had passed he stopped her with a tug on her hand.

"Hermione." He smiled easily. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry, Theo!" Hermione said it in a bit of a rush, biting her lip before continuing. "About before, I mean. I wasn't angry at you, I shouldn't have said what I did. I was just mad at Malfoy."

"It's no big deal." Theo shrugged it off with a grin, though he was secretly relieved. "I understand, and we did kind of corner you."

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "It's not ok, it was unacceptable, and the worse thing is, you were right, I was avoiding you. Not you specifically, I was avoiding Blaise and Draco, and you just kind of ended up guilty by association."

"I see." Theo paused a moment. "So why were you avoiding them?"

"It's complicated."

"Isn't everything?" Theo grinned. "That's life after all."

"To true." Hermione giggled at him slightly. "Especially when your best friends with Harry Potter, complicated doesn't really cut it." There was a brief pause. "It changes things."

Theo's shoulders slumped suddenly. "I does indeed."

"I'm so sorry Theo." Hermione whispered, suddenly realising so many things, things that she should have realised a long time ago. "It should have been you. It would have been you, if it wasn't for the war."

"There's no chance is there?" Theo's face was pained, his hands gripping hers tighter.

"Not now." Hermione shook her head, holding back tears at the sudden pain in her chest. "If life had been different, if Voldimort had died that night, never to come back, we would have been friends from the start."

They both remembered that day, in their first year. The first person Hermione had met on the train had been Theo, they had found a compartment together, only to be interrupted by none other than Draco Malfoy. He had told Hermione to get out, shoved her out the door even, say she wasn't fit to be in the company of Pure-Bloods.

"I would have gone with you." Theo murmured. "If the Dark Lord really was gone I would have had nothing to fear. I would have told Draco where to shove it and gone after you. I would have been by your side every step of the way."

"It would have been you." Hermione was crying now, crying for the life she could have had. "It would have been so easy, so right. It would have been perfect."

"But now?" Theo's voice was tight.

"I'm not the girl I would have been." Her head hung slightly, even as she spoke the truth she wanted to deny it. "I can't do easy, I can't do safe. It wouldn't be right."

"So what about Weasley?" His tone was gruff now, trying to mask the hurt.

"Ron and I would never have been, and could never be, no matter what path our lives took." She looked up, trying to catch his eyes. "It was meant to be you, it was never meant to be him."

"I wish it had been different." His control broke, his mask wavered and he grabbed her up into a hug.

Hermione was stunned, clinging to Theo as she started crying again. How had this happened? She had come here to apologise, not to face up to the way Theo felt about her, and how she felt about him. He was so comfortable, in every way. They could have had a good, happy life together; it would have been so easy. She hugged him tighter. It wasn't meant to be, not now, not in this time. Theo finally relaxed, having come to terms with his loss. He set her gently back on the ground and stepped back a step.

"So, where to know?"

"Well know we decided what's meant to be." Hermione gathered her courage once again and smiled. "The war happened and this is our life now, we can't change the past. So we move forward, there is always a future. You have one right in front of you, she's easy to spot, and she will be good to you, good for you."

"And you?"

"Me? I have a choice to make, one that could make or break my future."

"Be carefully, 'Mione" Theo pleaded. "They both want you, but they are still Slytherin's. You just don't know if they want you for love, for pride, or for the challenge."

"I know." She sighed and smiled at him. "I guess I should let you get to breakfast."

Theo nodded and gave her a quick hug. "Love you, Hermione."

"Love you to, Theo" A quick peak on the check and he was striding away. "Hey Theo!"

"Yea?" He turned back to look at her.

"Tracey's favourite flower is a yellow rose!"

He cracked a wide grin. "You're the best 'Mione!" He was running now and Hermione's laugh followed him.

**Well I hope that was ok…. I'm truly unsure where that last part came from. It wasn't how I was picturing things at all. However that is now Theo and Ron out of the running. So who will steal the bookworms heart? Draco, Blaise or maybe even Dean?**


End file.
